Say Something
by fanwriter1245
Summary: Brenna has been a newsie with the boys for a couple years ever since Jack took her in. She pretends to be a boy for the public, but can always find solace in her fellow newsies who all know her secret. When it comes to a certain Cowboy, Brenna thinks of them as friends...until a certain Italian says otherwise. But can she withstand hurt and betrayal when the time comes? JackxOC
1. Carrying the Banner

**I recently found a new love for this movie and my mind started going crazy with ideas. There are fifteen chapters in a total and I will update every two days. The beginning is kinda boring, but it gets better as time goes on :) **

**This is a Jack/OC fanfiction because I cannot stand Sarah's character. That relationship was based on nothing. However, I don't bash her because every time I started to, I just felt guilty. So I'll just leave you to it.**

**Enjoy!**

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The sound of footsteps on the stairs awoke Brenna very early in the morning. Before she was caught, she ran to the washroom with tiny footsteps so as not to alert Mr. Kloppman of her hasty getaway. She hid behind the wall, occasionally peeking out to see Kloppman getting the other newsboys up.

Brenna lived in the Newsboys Lodging House with about thirty other boys, all of them newsies like her. She had been with them for two and a half years now. The problem was though that it wasn't safe for girls to be newsies so she had to conceal the fact that she was actually a female. Every morning, she would hear Kloppman on the stairs, run to the washroom, wait for him to leave, and then Jack Kelly would assist her in making her appearance that of a male.

She had to wear bandages over her chest, hide her long brown hair with an old cap, and wear male clothes. It had of course been strange at first, but she had grown used to it over time. The thing everyone really had to get over when she first started was thirty boys getting dressed in the presence of a girl and one girl getting dressed in the presence of thirty boys.

Every single boy in the Lodging House knew that Brenna was a girl, but they had decided to keep it a secret from Mr. Kloppman. While they admired him and looked up to him, they had no idea how he would react if he found out a girl was staying in the Lodging House with them. They had a feeling he would send her to the workhouses under the belief that that was better for her in the long run, but they all knew that was not the case. Therefore, she had to hide her identity from him and the rest of the public every single day.

"Boots!" Kloppman screamed.

Brenna laughed to herself as she saw the young boy bolt upright for a second and then plunge his head right back down onto his pillow.

"Skittery! Skittery! Skittery!"

Skittery sat up quickly. "Wha…I didn't do it!"

"What do you mean you didn't do it?" Kloppman said.

While Brenna was always really stressed about hiding from the man every morning, she had to admit that it was really funny to watch how he woke up all the boys.

"Will ya get up? When ya get up, it's time to get up! Snitch! Get up! Get up! Everybody's sleepin'. They sleep their lives away these kids! The presses are rollin'! Sell da papers, sell da papers!"

He walked from bed to bed shouting in everyone's ear as he tried to get them out of bed to sell the papers. "Come on, come on!"

He finally made it to Jack's bed. "You dreamin' about selling papers?" he said as he tapped Jack repeatedly on the back.

Jack let out a groan and turned over. "What's da matta with you?"

"What's da matter with me?"

"What's da matta with you?" He mumbled something incoherently and closed his eyes again.

"Come on!" Kloppman started shoving him and almost pushed him off the top bunk he slept on!

"Get away from me, you're mad!" Jack said jokingly.

Kloppman laughed as Jack fought with him for a few seconds. "Get up boy! Come on. Alright! Carry da banner! Sell da papers!"

Kloppman finally went back downstairs and Brenna came out of her hiding spot in the washroom. She approached Jack, who had closed his eyes once again, took her cap and whacked him on the head with it.

"Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Come on, slowpoke! I need ya to help me get ready!"

Jack groaned again and slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Ya torture me, Tricks."

"Ya torture yourself, Jack!"

All newsies had nicknames because most of them wanted to completely start over when they became one. Almost all the nicknames reflected their personality or what they did or some trait they had. Brenna's nickname was Trickster, though pretty much all the boys took to calling her Tricks, because she tricked the public into believing she was a boy.

Jack hopped down from his bunk and the two of them went to the washroom.

Because they both couldn't fit in the stall, they had to leave the door open, but the boys didn't look out of decency. Only Jack was ever allowed to help Brenna put her bandages on and take them off. Even then, he only ever saw her backside. Brenna put the bandages on her front side and then Jack tied them and secured them in the back. When she was all tied up, Jack closed her stall door and left her to get dressed.

Brenna put her usual shirt and pants on and then went to the sink to wash her face.

"_Dat's my cigar!_" she heard Racetrack say to Snipeshooter from the beds.

"_You'll steal anudder!_" Snipeshooter shot back. Brenna rolled her eyes. A good number of the boys in here smoked cigarettes and cigars, but she had made very clear that she did not approve and was not going to join them.

"_Hey, bummers, we got work to do!_" Kid Blink said as he broke up the scuffle between the two boys.

"_Since when did you become me mudder?_" Specs asked Blink sarcastically.

"_Aw, stop your bawlin'!_" Crutchy said getting between them.

"_Hey, who asked you?_" all of the newsies, including Brenna said. She smiled as she said it. She couldn't be mad at Crutchy if she tried. He was the sweetest out of all the newsies and had taken a shine to her from the first day he met her.

The washroom was always crowded at this time in the morning and it was nearly impossible to completely clean up. Luckily, Brenna always managed to wash up before all the boys flocked in. She went to the bed area to grab her cap.

"So how'd ya sleep, Jack?" Mush asked as Jack tucked his undershirt into his pants.

"On me back, Mush," Jack replied shortly.

Mush started laughing like that was funniest joke he had ever heard. "Hear dat fellas? Hear what Jack said? I asked Jack how he slept and he said 'On me back, Mush'!"

"Mush!" Brenna called. "It ain't _dat_ funny!"

"Speak for yourself!"

Crutchy walked up to Jack as he finished buttoning his pants. "Hey, Jack, when I walk, does it look like I'm fakin' it?" he asked.

"No. Who says you're fakin' it?" Jack answered as he put his arm around Crutchy's shoulders.

"I dunno. It's just there's so many fake crips on da street today, a real crip ain't got a chance. I gotta find me a new sellin' spot where they ain't used to seein' me."

Brenna sighed. Being a crip on the streets was almost as bad as being a girl. She could definitely relate to his struggles. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't walk well, and it made Brenna angry to think that he had to work harder because of that minor detail.

"_Try Bottle Alley or da harbor_," Mush sang.

"_Try Central Park, it's guaranteed_," Racetrack added.

"_Try any baker, bum, or barber_," Jack threw in as he shaved his face.

"_They almost all knows how to read!_" Skittery sang as he dried his face after washing it.

"_I smell money!_" Blink said as he came out of one of the stalls.

Crutchy fell against it as he attempted to walk in. "_You smell foul!_"

Brenna smiled to herself. Unfortunately, she knew exactly what Crutchy meant. On more than one occasion, she had gone to use the bathroom after one of the boys and could've sworn that she would die if she stayed in the stall longer than a second. Since then, she had learned how to breathe through her mouth.

"_Met this girl last night!_" Mush sang as he prevented Blink from beating the lights out of Crutchy.

"_Ow, move your elbow!_" Crutchy sang as he tried to wash his face.

Racetrack finished washing his face with soap and water and walked around the room blindly. "_Pass da towel!_"

Skittery pushed his head playfully away. "_For a buck I might!_" he kidded.

Brenna laughed and handed a towel to Racetrack who was still trying to find one with his eyes closed.

Then all the newsies started singing as they put on their last articles of clothing.

_Ain't it a fine life_

_Carryin' da banner through it all?_

_A mighty fine life_

_Carryin' da banner tough and tall_

Brenna put on her cap and tucked her hair into it, leaving a bit of her part showing so it didn't look like she was bald.

She looked over at Jack and he walked over to her. They had this silent communication in the morning where Brenna would look at him to make sure enough of her hair was tucked into her cap. This morning, she had missed a piece. Jack took the extra hair that was showing and tucked it into the cap for her.

The newsies ran downstairs and onto the street to head to the World Distribution Center to start selling their papers.

_Every morning, we goes where we wishes_

_We's as free as fishes_

_Sure beats washin' dishes_

_What a fine life_

_Carryin' da banner home-free all!_

Brenna pulled her cap down a little further over her eyes as she passed Mr. Kloppman just to make sure he didn't notice her. She always got nervous when she walked past him, afraid that he would want to talk to her and in doing so, he would discover her secret and then off to the workhouses she would go. But just like every other morning, Kloppman did not notice her.

The newsies started running through the streets way too energetically for that early in the morning.

_Summer stinks and winter's waitin'_

_Welcome to New York_

_Boy, ain't nature fascinatin'_

_When you'se gotta walk?_

_Still, it's a fine life_

_Carryin' da banner with me chums_

_A mighty fine life_

_Blowin' every nickel as it comes!_

All of the newsies were dancing right in the middle of the New York streets for all to see. Brenna loved this time of the day when all of them were together, singing and dancing. Once they started selling, they usually didn't see each other until they were all back at the house that night. This was the time Brenna took advantage of.

"_I'm no snoozer!_" Crutchy sang. "_Sittin' makes me antsy! I like livin' chancy!_"

_Harlem to Delancey_

_What a fine life_

_Carryin' da banner through da slums_

A group of four nuns on a wagon sang to the workers kindly and each boy, or in Brenna's case girl, went up and took a little bit of bread from them. Most of the boys removed their hats in respect, but for obvious reasons, Brenna could not do so. She crossed her hand over her chest as she took the bread from one of the nun's outstretched hands, silently thanking them for the little food that would have to be enough to get them through the day. Brenna saw a woman looking for her son and sadly could not offer words of comfort to the poor mother who just wanted her little boy back.

_If I hate da headline, I'll make up da headline_

_And I'll say anything I hafta_

_'__Cause at two for a penny, if I take too many_

_Weasel just makes me eat 'em afta!_

All of them started singing over one another as they watched the headline get put up on the board, seeing with dismay that it was the same headline they had seen for the last couple of weeks…a headline that wasn't selling very well.

They made it to the gates of the World Distribution Center when two very unfriendly faces forced their way into the crowd.

Racetrack sniffed the air. "Deah me! What is dat unpleasant aroma?"

"I dunno, Race," Brenna said as she pretended to wipe her eyes. "But it is makin' my eyes water!"

"I fear da sewer must've backed up in da middle of da night!"

"Nah, too rotten to be da sewers!" Boots remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, it must be da Delancey brudders!" Crutchy exclaimed. All of the boys started laughing together. It was no secret that all of them, and for some reason Brenna noticed that especially Jack, hated the two brothers with a passion. And they certainly had no problem making that fact known to them.

Oscar grabbed Snipeshooter's neck and said in his face, "In the back, ya lousy little shrimp!" before throwing him on the ground.

Brenna glared at the boy angrily. She didn't take kindly to people who abused her friends.

Jack helped the boy up off the ground. "Ya shouldn't call people lousy little shrimps, Oscar, unless you're referrin' to da family resemblance in your brudda here."

This was met by a chorus of "Ohs" from the group around them. Brenna smiled and put her hand to her mouth. She was always envious how Jack could come up with the perfect insults on the spot.

"Five to one dat Cowboys skunks 'em!" Racetrack called out. "Who's bettin'?"

Brenna laughed at Racetrack's playful tone. Jack got close to Morris's face.

"Dat's right. It's an insult. So's this!" He whipped Morris's hat off his head and the rest of the group shouted their praises to Jack for being so bold. Jack took off running and they all followed him to see what he would do next. Brenna watched in amusement as Jack lifted himself up into the overhang on a shop and then swung down, letting his feet come in contact with the Delancey brother's faces.

Suddenly, Jack bumped into a young boy about his and Brenna's age. "What do you think you're doing?" the boy asked.

Brenna suddenly felt the brothers behind her and worked with all the other newsies to keep them at bay. "Jack!" she called as a warning to him.

"Runnin'!" Jack exclaimed as he took off again. He managed to lose the brothers and came back to join the group, bowing at his feat. He took Brenna and slung his arm around her neck and dug his knuckles painfully into her head. He did that a lot, and secretly Brenna found it kind of funny. She playfully squirmed out of his hold and smiled at him.

Suddenly, the brothers came back and pushed Jack on the ground. He quickly got up and managed to get Oscar in a chokehold and taunted his elder brother. Morris tried to take a swing at Jack but ended up hitting his brother instead. Jack climbed up the gate to the Distribution Center and they swung open as the newsies flooded in to start their day.


	2. Selling Papers

**Thanks to theater104 for giving me a review already! :D**

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The newsies all lined up outside the window to receive their papers. Jack got there first with Brenna next in line behind him.

"Oh, Mr. Weasel!" Jack called through the wood that was boarded up, signaling the place was closed. Jack shot Brenna a cheeky grin. They all knew Weasel hated it when Jack called him that. There was no response so Jack rang the bell next to the window.

"Alright, alright! Hold your horses!" they heard on the other side. The board lifted up revealing a man who needed to work out some more, wash his hair more often, and shave…badly. "I'm comin'! I'm comin'!"

"So, didja miss me, Weasel? Didja? Didja miss me?" Jack asked.

"I told ya a million times. The name's Weisel. Mr. Weisel to you. How many?"

Jack scanned a newspaper. "Don't rush me, I'm perusin' da merchandise, Mr. _Weasel_." He punctuated Weasel's name just to annoy the man. It worked. "Da usual," he said, slamming down a coin onto the counter.

"100 papes for the wise guy. Next!"

Brenna went up to the window. "Heya, Weasel!" she said happily. Jack had convinced her early on to call him by the same nickname. She refused to at first, but the more time she spent with the boys, the more they rubbed off on her. "Tough decision today. What do ya think?"

Weasel eyed her angrily, not in the mood for her games.

She put her hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll take, uh, 60 papes."

"60 papes for Trickster!"

Brenna collected her papers and sat down next to Jack as they read through what they were selling. Racetrack and Crutchy got their papers after she did then Racetrack took a seat next to Brenna.

"Look at this," he remarked. "'Baby Born With Two Heads'. Must be from Brooklyn."

Brenna laughed at his comment, seeing as most of them made fun of Brooklyn every chance they got, until she heard some commotion from the window.

"Hey, you got your lousy papes, now beat it!" Weasel said loudly.

Brenna looked up and saw that he was talking to the boy Jack had bumped into earlier when he was running from the Delancey brothers. "I paid for twenty. I only got nineteen," the boy stated.

"Are you accusing me of lyin', kid?!" Brenna frowned as Weasel raised his voice angrily at the poor newbie. It wasn't lying, it was miscounting. A difference Weasel apparently did not know.

"No. I just want my paper," the boy answered timidly.

"He said beat it!" Morris ordered.

Jack stood up and counted the papers in the stack. "No, it's nineteen, Weasel," he said in an effort to help the boy. "It's nineteen, but don't worry about it. It's an honest mistake. I mean, Morris here can't count to twenty with his shoes on." If there hadn't been bars separating the two boys, Jack just might've gotten soaked. "Hey Race, will ya spot me two bits?"

Racetrack threw Jack a coin, who then handed it to Weasel. "Anudder 50 for my friend."

"I don't want another 50," the boy tried to interject.

"Sure ya do. Every newsie wants more papes."

"I don't."

Jack took the extra 50 papers and slammed them into the boy's chest, ignoring his protests.

"I don't want your papes," he continued as they left the window. "I don't take charity from anyone. I don't know you. I don't care to. Here are your papes." He held out the extra papers, but Jack made no move to take them from him, so the boy ended up just adding them to his stack.

"Cowboy. They called him Cowboy!" an adorable little boy said.

"Yeah, I'm called dat and a lot of other things, including Jack Kelly, which is what me mudder called me. What do they call you, kid?"

"Les, and this is my brother David. He's older."

"Oh, no kiddin'." Jack handed his stack of papers to Mush to hold for him. "So how old are you, Les?"

"Me? Near ten."

"Near ten. Well, dat's no good. If anyone asks, you should say you're seven."

Brenna put her hand to her mouth. "Actually, Jack, I think he could pass for six."

"Yeah, I think you're right, Tricks. Ya see, younger sells more papes and if we're gonna be partners, we wanna be da best—"

"Hey, wait, wait," David said. "Who said anything about being partners?"

Brenna hadn't known this guy for very long, but she knew he had a long way to go on the path to becoming a true newsie. So far, he had only proven to be rather annoying and a stickler for the rules. She had a feeling spending enough time with all of them would change that. It certainly changed her. Maybe someday, she would actually let him in on her secret that all the other boys knew. But for now, she was going to keep on the façade for him that she was a boy too.

"Well, you owe me two bits right?" Jack said. David shrugged his shoulders. "So, I'll consider dat an investment, we sell together, we split 70-30, plus you get da benefit of observing me, no charge!"

David laughed at him for suggesting such a ridiculous proposal and Jack mocked his laugh. Brenna smiled. He always mocked people when they gave him not-so-good answers and it was always funny to watch.

"You're gettin' da chance of a lifetime here, Davey!" Crutchy said. "Ya learn from Jack, ya learn from da best."

"Aw, don't go sayin' stuff like dat, Crutchy!" Brenna said. "He'll go gettin' a big head! Oh wait. Dat already happened."

"Very funny, Tricks," Jack said.

Brenna shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I try my best."

"Well, if he's the best, then how come he needs me?" David asked.

"Listen, I don't need you, pal, but I ain't got a cute little brudder like Les here to front for me. With this kid's puss and my God-given talent, we could move a thousand papes a week. So what do ya say, Les? Ya wanna sell papes with me?"

"Yeah!" the little boy answered eagerly. Brenna laughed. He really was precious. They didn't have many younger newsies. Most newsies were roughly thirteen or older. Therefore, she didn't get to work with any younger kids, which was too bad because she loved kids. Perhaps she could finally make up for lost time with Les.

"So we got a deal?" Jack held his hand out for Les to shake, but David grabbed it and stopped him.

"Wait. It's got to be at least 50-50."

"60-40, or I forget da whole thing."

"Trust me, David, take him up on dat offer. Jack don't offer lessons often, so consider yourself lucky," Brenna told him.

"What do ya say?" Jack asked.

David held out his hand, silently saying he would take the deal. Jack spit on his hand and reached for David's, but the boy pulled his hand away before it touched Jack's.

"Whats'a matta?" Jack asked, almost offended.

"That's disgusting!"

All of the newsies laughed. This kid had a long way to go.

The rest of the kids got their papers and they all headed out onto the street to begin their work.

"Da name of da game is volume, Dave," Jack said as they all walked out of the Distribution Center gates. "Ya only took twenty papes. Why?"

"Bad headline," David answered.

"Dat's da first thing ya gotta learn. Headlines don't sell papes."

"Newsies sell papes," Brenna finished. It had sort of become their motto. Jack said the first part, and Brenna always finished with the second part.

"Ya know, we're what holds this town together," Jack continued. "Without newsies, nobody knows nothin'."

A pretty girl walked past the group of boys, and most of them took their hats off and made discreet little comments about her beauty. Brenna rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but feel a little jealous. There were times when she would wish that she could dress pretty like other girls and get guys' attention, but then she reminded herself that she had all of these guys as her best friends and felt better. Plus, she would rather wear pants and a shirt than a long dress. At least when she wore pants, she felt safer…unlike years ago.

As soon as the girl hurried past all of them awkwardly, the rest of the newsies began hawking out different headlines in order to grab the interest of others and sell their papers.

"Hey, Tricks!" Jack called. "Why don't ya help me teach da noob about sellin' papes?"

"You got it!"

Brenna, Jack, David, and Les started making their way to where large gatherings were in order to sell all of their papers.

Before long, they ended up at a place in the square where wrestling matches went on.

"Extra! Extra! Trolley strike drags on!" David screamed to the crowd of bustling people.

"Extra! Extra! Ellis Island in flames!" Jack screamed behind him.

"Wait, where's that story?" David asked.

"Thank you sir," Jack said to a man who bought one of his papers. "Page 9," he told David. "Thousands flee in panic!"

"Dogfight on da Brooklyn Bridge!" Brenna called. "Two bodies scratched up badly! Who comes out on top?"

David looked at her. "Where's _that_ one?"

She smiled at him. "Page 10."

David opened his paper and looked at the two stories. "'Trash Fire Next To Immigration Building Terrifies Seagulls'? 'Two Dogs Scuffle on the Bridge'?"

Jack and Brenna kept barking out their blown-up headlines as David watched in shock.

The two of them sold a lot more of their papers, while David sold none of his. Les came running up to the group.

"Hey, you start in da back like I told ya?" Jack asked him. The little boy nodded. "Okay, show me again."

Les coughed a little, admittedly unconvincingly. "Buy me last pape, mista?" he rasped out.

Brenna laughed. "It's good, Les. But if ya really wanna sell it, cough more from da throat." She demonstrated a really good cough for him. "Hurts da throat a bit more, but it gets ya twice as many customers."

"It's heartbreakin', kid. Go get 'em."

"My father taught us not to lie," David said admonishingly to the both of them.

"Well, mine told me not to starve, so we both got an education."

"You're both just making up things! All these headlines!"

"We don't do nothin' da guys who write it don't do. Anyway, it's not lyin', it's just improvin' da truth a little."

"I mean, who honestly wants to read about da dumb trolley strike anymore?" Brenna said. "It's boring and old news. If we don't sell other headlines, we're doomed to not sell all our papes. Da more papes we sell, da more food we can get. Dat's just how it works."

Les bounded up to them again with a shiny coin in his hand. "The guy gave me a quarter!" he said excitedly. "Quick, give me some more last papers!"

"Wait, wait." David pulled his brother close to him and sniffed him. "You smell like beer."

"Well, that's how I made the quarter. The guy bet me I wouldn't drink some."

Brenna rolled her eyes. Sometimes, guys were so stupid. It was cruel to make a young boy drink beer. Drinking beer in general wasn't very pleasant to begin with, no matter the age. None of the guys in New York knew how to keep their drinking in moderation and they were way too many drunken men roaming the streets. Way, way too many. She knew that better than anyone.

Jack laughed. "Hey, no drinkin' on da job. It's bad for business. And what if somebody called da cop on you?"

"Is he a friend of yours?" David asked, pointing to some man.

Brenna looked out at who he was pointing at. Her stomach flopped at the sight of the old man. "Oh, shoot, Jack! It's Snyder!"

"Beat it! It's da Bulls!"

Jack grabbed Brenna's hand while David grabbed Les and they all took off. Jack led them through an alleyway, the streets, and then into a nearby building. The four of them started bounding up the stairs.

"Sleeper!" Jack called. They hopped over the drunken man asleep on the steps and made it up to the roof. Jack released Brenna's hand and jumped off the roof!

"Jack!" she called.

He peeked his head up and they realized he was just on a ledge beneath them. Brenna ran over and took Jack's awaiting hand and jumped down while the boys followed suit. They managed to hide just as Snyder popped out of the door…and was greeted with an empty roof.

"Sullivan!" he screamed. "Wait 'til I get you back to the Refuge!"

The four of them quietly scooted over and kept running until they stopped right in front of Irving Hall.

"I'm not running any further," David panted as they stopped.

Jack pushed past him and went inside the building. The rest of the group followed him in and shut the door behind them.

"I want some answers!" David demanded.

"Shh!" Jack shushed.

"Who was he and why was he chasing you? And what is this Refuge?"

"Da Refuge is a jail for kids. Dat guy chasing me was Snyder, da warden."

"You were in jail?" Les asked, almost fascinated by it. It was clear he really admired Jack as a person. It was cute actually.

"Yeah," Jack answered.

"Why?"

"Well, I was starvin', so I stole some food."

"Food?" David scoffed.

"Yeah, food," Jack answered sternly, not appreciating David's sarcastic tone.

"He called you Sullivan."

"Well, my name's Kelly. Jack Kelly. Ya think I'm lyin'?"

"Well, you have a way of improving the truth."

Brenna had to hand it to him that that was a good comeback. The truth was she didn't know if Jack was his real name or not, but she had a feeling it wasn't. He never told her, though, and she didn't ask. It wasn't her place to.

"Why was he chasing you?" David asked.

"'Cause I escaped."

"Oh boy! How?" Les asked excitedly. Definitely admired him. It was cute, but Brenna wanted to warn him not to follow in Jack's footsteps. His footsteps led down a dangerous road.

"Well, this big shot gave me a ride out in his carriage."

"I bet it was the mayor, right?" David said sarcastically.

"No, Teddy Roosevelt. You ever heard of him?"

The door at the top of the steps opened and out came a red-headed woman in a very bright pink dress.

"What's going on there?" she demanded angrily. "Out! Out! Out!"

Brenna smiled. The woman obviously did not know who they were at first glance. Understandably so. They all looked pretty haggard after the whole chase with Snyder.

"Aw, you wouldn't kick us out, wouldja Medda?" Brenna teased.

"Not without a kiss goodbye at least," Jack added.

"Oh, Kelly. Trickster." She gave the two of them a tight hug. "Where ya been, kids? Oh, I miss seein' ya both up in the balcony."

Jack kissed her hand. "Hangin' on your every word." The two of them smiled at each other. Brenna had been nervous to meet the woman at first, but over time, she sort of grew into a mother figure for both her and the boys. Unlike the public, she was one of the few who knew she was actually a girl. That also helped because she could talk with her about problems in the Lodging House to someone who understood her position. After all, the boys knew that there were going to be some things Brenna needed to talk about that she couldn't discuss with males.

"So Medda," Jack said leading her down the stairs.

"Yes."

"This is David and Les."

"Hello," she said politely.

"And this is da greatest star of da vaudeville stage today, Miss Medda Larkson, da Swedish Meadowlark."

Medda laughed. "Velcome, gentlemen," she said, putting on a thick Swedish accent for show.

"Medda also owns da joint," Jack explained.

"Oh, what do we have here?" she said, leaning down to Les's eye level. "Oh, aren't you the cutest little thing that ever was? Yes you are."

Brenna laughed as Medda tickled his face with her giant feather.

Les began coughing again, but it sounded much better this time since he did it from the throat like Brenna had told him to. She threw him a small wink behind Medda's back.

"Are you alright?" Medda asked.

"Buy me last pape, lady?" Les rasped again.

Medda smiled at him. "Oh, you are good! Oh yes, this kid is really good!"

Jack and Brenna laughed. "We taught him everything he knows!" Brenna said.

"Speaking as one professional to another, I'd say you have a great future!"

"So, is it alright if we stay here for a little while, Medda?" Jack asked. "Just until a little problem outside goes away."

"Sure," she answered warmly. "Stay as long as you like. Toby, just give my guests whatever they want."

A clown came over to Les while Jack pulled David over to the side of the stage to watch Medda's show.

"And now gents," an announcer called out. "The moment you've all been waiting for. The sensational songbird. The Swedish Meadowlark, Miss Medda Larkson!"

Medda went out onstage for a mainly male audience who cheered for the young woman. She winked at them and began to sing:

_My lovey dovey baby_

_I boo-hoo-hoo for you_

_I used to be your tootsie-wootsie_

_Then you said 'toodlee-doo'_

_I miss the hanky-panky_

_Each nighty-night til three_

_Come back my lovey dovey baby_

_And cootchie-coo with me!_

Brenna rolled her eyes at the way the boys looked at her and how David followed her every movement backstage. Men.


	3. Dreams

**Wow, four reviews after only two chapters? That's a record for me :)**

* * *

When the show was over, they knew the coast was clear from Snyder, so they said good-bye to Medda and headed out.

Jack lit a cigarette and started puffing it, much to Brenna's dismay. "So ya like dat?" he asked.

Before David could answer, Brenna glared at Jack before taking the cigarette from his mouth and flicking it the ground. If anyone else had done that, Jack would've pummeled them. But he just gave her an annoyed look, one she knew would not last long. After all, it wasn't the first time she had done that, nor would it be the last.

"Oh, I loved that!" David answered happily. "I loved it. It was great. She is beautiful. How do you know her?"

"She was a friend of me fadder's." Jack took a seat on a chair at a shoe shining station. "Come on, Les, ya wanna shine me shoes for me?" he joked.

David looked at his watch. "Oh, it's getting late. My parents are going to be worried. What about yours?"

"Nah, they're out west looking for a place to live, like this." He showed them a comic with a cowboy on it. "See, dat's Santa Fe, New Mexico. As soon as they find da right ranch, they're gonna send for me."

"Then you'll be a real cowboy!" Les said.

"Yup!"

"What about your parents, Trickster?" David asked.

Brenna looked at him. She wasn't as good at thinking up excuses on the spot like Jack was. "My parents—"

Their heads turned at the sound of loud crashes and yelling. Jack got up from the chair and they all went to go find out what was going on. They were met with one of the trolleys on fire and several men beating up other men. It was loud, and though Jack seemed to be enjoying it, Brenna would've felt better if they left.

"Jack!" David yelled over the commotion. "Why don't we go to my place and divvy up? You both can meet my folks!"

"It's da trolley strike, Dave!" Jack said, ignoring him. A couple of guys beat up one poor man senseless.

"Jack, let's get out of here!" David pleaded.

"For once, I agree with him!" Brenna yelled.

"So, maybe we'll get a good headline tomorrow, guys!" He looked over at Les, who had laid down on a bench and dosed off. "Look at this, he slept da whole way through it!" Jack laughed. He picked the little boy up and put him over his shoulder. Then they all headed over to David's place to meet his parents and deliver the sleeping boy. They made it inside just as a huge thunderstorm started.

Brenna realized a little too late that it probably didn't look good for them to walk through the door with Les hanging on Jack's shoulder.

"What happened?" a woman, who she assumed was David's mother, asked frantically.

"Nothing, Mama. He's just sleeping," David answered.

"We've been waiting dinner for you. Where have you been?" his father asked. Brenna noticed his arm was in a sling, so he must've broken his arm at some point, most likely in a factory where most men worked.

David took out the coins he and Les had made from selling papers today and proudly set them down on the table.

"You made all this selling newspapers?"

"Well, half of its Jack's and Trickster's. This is our selling partner and our friends. Jack Kelly, Trickster, my parents. And that's my sister, Sarah."

Brenna could not ignore the look the girl, who she assumed was around their age, gave Jack. There was no mistaking the look in a girl's eyes when she developed a crush. Even one that started after just a glimpse. She chose to ignore some weird feeling in the bottom of her stomach.

"Ester, maybe David's friends would like to join us for dinner. Why don't you add a little more water to the soup?" He kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Mayer!" she muttered.

Brenna sighed. She couldn't remember the last time she had had real food for dinner.

"Trickster, is it?" his mother called from the kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am," Brenna replied politely.

"Would you mind removing your hat inside?"

Brenna looked at Jack with wide eyes. Yes, she did mind taking off her cap. David still didn't know her secret and she wasn't about to tell him along with his whole family.

"Uh, he can't," Jack said quickly, coming to her rescue. "One of our newsboys, Racetrack, tried to give him a haircut a few days ago. Let's just say Race has never done a haircut before, and won't ever do one again."

His mother smiled apologetically. "Understandable. Just take a seat at the table, boys."

Brenna gave him a thankful look. He just smiled and tossed a small wink at her when he knew no one was looking.

Everyone obeyed Ester's request, with the exception of Les who was asleep in bed, and sat down to eat. Brenna and Jack ate a lot more than the rest of the family, considering they were living on less food and were going to make the most of this little dinner.

"So, I gotta say from what I saw today, your boys are a couple of born newsies," Jack told David's parents. "Can I have a little more?" he asked Sarah.

"Yes." Sarah took his bowl from him.

"Me too?" Brenna asked.

"Sure," Sarah said with a smile, taking her bowl as well.

"So with their hard work, my experience, and Trickster's help from time to time, I figure we can peddle a thousand papes a week and not even break a sweat."

"That many?" Mayer asked.

"More when da headline's good."

Sarah returned to the table and presented the two of them with their bowls now filled nearly to the brim with more soup.

"So what makes the headline good?" she asked as she sat down.

"Oh, ya know. Catchy words like 'maniac', or 'corpse'." Jack rubbed his eyes trying to think of more. "Let's see, uh, 'love nest', or 'nude'."

Brenna sent him a sharp look. What he said was true, but that didn't mean he was supposed to actually say it. She sent him a sharp kick to his shin from underneath the table. He hid his wince well. "Excuse me. Maybe I'm talkin' too much."

"Ya think?" Brenna said under her breath.

Mayer smiled. "Sarah? Go get the cake your mother's hiding in the cabinet!"

"That's for your birthday tomorrow!" Ester exclaimed hitting him with her dishtowel.

"Well, I've had enough birthdays. This is a celebration!"

"I'll get the knife!" David said as he got up.

"I got the plates!" Sarah added.

"This is only the beginning, Papa," David said from the kitchen. "The longer I work, the more money I'll make!"

"You'll only work until I go back to the factory, and then you are going back to school, like you promised."

Neither Brenna nor Jack missed the looks on his family's faces when he said that. It was clear his injury may have just been too much and he wouldn't be getting his job back anytime soon.

"Happy birthday, Papa," Sarah said as she kissed his cheek and gave him a slice of cake.

"This is going to heal, and they'll give me my job back," Mayer insisted. "We'll make them."

When Brenna looked over at Jack, she couldn't help but see how he was looking at their interaction and she knew exactly how he was feeling. She missed her family more than anything and no doubt he was missing his too. Neither one of them had had a family like this around for them and taking care of them in years.

Sarah handed the both of them a piece of cake and a fork before they all sat down. Behind them, Les began singing in his sleep. Everyone in the room turned to look at the sleeping boy.

"Come back my lovey dovey baby and cootchie-coo with me."

David, Brenna, and Jack turned back around, took one look at each other, and burst out laughing. As much as they tried to hold it in, it was impossible.

When they finished eating, the three of them excused themselves and went out to the fire escape. The air smelled nice and crisp after the heavy rain.

"So how'd your pop get hurt?" Jack asked David.

"At the factory," David answered. Brenna was pleased with herself that she had guessed correctly. "It was an accident. He's no good to them anymore, so they just fired him. He's got no union to protect him."

"I'm sorry," Brenna said to him.

There was an awkward silence on the fire escape before Mayer appeared at the window. "David, it's time to come in now," he said to his son.

"Alright." David began to head back in.

"Bye, David," Brenna said to him.

"Jack, Trickster, why don't you guys stay here tonight?"

"Ah, no, thanks," Jack said. "We got a place of our own. But you're family's real nice, like mine."

"See you tomorrow." David shook hands with both of them. "Carrying the banner."

"Carryin' da banner," Jack and Brenna laughed together.

The two of them listened to Ester sing Les a little lullaby. They slowly began to walk down the stairs on the fire escape.

Brenna could tell Jack wasn't himself. "Jack?" she asked.

He looked over at her as if coming out of a daze. "Yeah?"

"You, uh, you feelin' okay?"

Jack gave her a pained smile and started singing softly.

_So dat's what they call a family_

_Mudder, daughter, fadder, son_

_Guess dat everything ya heard about is true._

_So you ain't got any family_

_Well, who said ya needed one?_

_Ain'tcha glad nobody's waitin' up for you?_

Brenna listened to his sad words and wished she could console him, but the truth was that she was feeling the exact same way. She hadn't seen her family in almost seven years, and there was no telling when Jack had last seen his.

_When I dream on my own_

_I'm alone, but I ain't lonely_

_For a dreamer, night's da only time of day_

_When da city's finally sleepin'_

_And my thoughts begin to stray_

_And I'm on da train dat's bound for Santa Fe_

Brenna smiled as he began to sing about his dream to live in Santa Fe. Deep down inside, every newsie wanted to get out of New York and make a living for themselves elsewhere. Some people wanted to go to California, some wanted to go to Florida, and then there was Jack who wanted to go to Santa Fe.

_And I'm free_

_Like da wind_

_Like I'm gonna live forever._

_It's a feelin' time can never take away_

_All I need's a few more dollars_

_And I'm outta here to stay_

_Dreams come true_

_Yes they do_

_In Santa Fe_

Jack threw his cowboy hat on his head, and Brenna noticed the change in his voice. He sounded angrier, but also confident and powerful.

_Where does it say you gotta live and die here?_

_Where does it say a guy can't catch a break?_

_Why should ya only take what you're given?_

_Why should ya spend your whole life livin'?_

_Trapped where there ain't no future_

_Even at seventeen_

_Breakin' your back for someone else's sake_

_If da life don't seem to suit ya_

_How 'bout a change of scene?_

_Far from da lousy headlines_

_And da deadlines in between! _

He started running and Brenna had to sprint to keep up with him. She watched in amusement as he began to dance in the middle of the empty street with no one's eyes but hers looking at him. He didn't seem to care that she watched in the slightest. He moved his feet and body in a way that was graceful, yet at the same time, completely sharp and original. It was so fascinating to watch. He took off running again, and once again Brenna struggled to keep up. He hopped up onto a horse, and though she wanted to protest against his stealing the animal, she took his hand and he swept her up on to the horse so that she was in front of him. They began galloping off in the direction of the Lodging House, ignoring the shouts from the owners of the horse.

Brenna felt the wind in her face like she never had before and it was an incredible feeling. Here with Jack, she had never felt happier in a very long time.

_Santa Fe_

_Are you there?_

_Do you swear you won't forget me?_

_If I found you would you let me come and stay?_

_I ain't gettin' any younger_

_And before my dying day _

_I want space_

_Not just air_

_Let 'em laugh in my face, I don't care_

_Save a place_

_I'll be there_

They made it to the Lodging House and Jack dismounted from the horse. He put his hands on Brenna's waist while she put hers on his shoulders, and he helped her get off as well before urging the horse on.

_So dat's what they call a family?_

_Ain'tcha glad you ain't dat way?_

_Ain'tcha glad you got a dream called Santa Fe?_

Brenna sighed. She felt bad for the poor boy, but she was glad that he let her in on his dream. She wondered where she would go if given the opportunity to leave New York.

Jack smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders as he rubbed her head. She laughed as she pushed his arm off. The two of them walked up to the entrance to the Lodging House.

"Heya Race," Jack said as the boy approached the House next to them.

"Hey Jack. Tricks."

"How was your day at da track?"

"Remember dat hot tip I told ya about? Nobody told da horse."

The two boys walked up to the door while Brenna hung back. "Ya comin', Tricks?" Jack asked her when he realized she wasn't following.

"You two go on ahead. I'll be up in a second."

"Suit yourself."

Brenna was left alone outside the Lodging House. She heaved a huge sigh and shoved her hands in her pockets. She felt a couple raindrops and realized that it was once again starting to rain, but it was only a drizzle. She began to sing softly:

_I've been caught sideways out here on the crossroads_

_Trying to buy back the pieces I lost of my soul_

_It's hard when the devil won't get off your back_

_It's like carrying around the past in a hundred pound sack_

What had happened to her when Jack found her still haunted her nearly every single day. She never showed it, but it ran through her mind a lot, even though it was over two years ago. Now here she was with hardly any money as she tried to sell her way back to healthy living.

It began to pour once again. Her clothes quickly got soaked, but she just lifted her head to the sky and continued to sing:

_Today I'm gonna keep on walking_

_I'm gonna hold my head up high_

_I'm gonna leave it all behind_

_Today I'm gonna stand out in the rain_

_Let it wash it all away _

_Yeah wash it all away_

_I'm gonna let it go _

_Oh yeah_

Brenna took off her cap and let her brown hair fall around her shoulders where it immediately began to change to a darker brown from the falling water. It felt good to just let her hair down outside, something she could rarely do.

_I'm gonna let it go _

_Oh yeah_

_Skeletons and ghosts are hiding in the shadows_

_Threatening me with all the things that they know_

_Choices and mistakes, they all know my name_

_But I'm through holding in and holding onto all that pain_

A lot of times, her secret threatened to come out in public. If it did, she had a lot to lose. Most likely, she would be put back into the workhouse, or perhaps even jail. Not the Refuge, but actual jail. It was a lot of pressure to put on her, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Because of this life she lived, she was able to spend her time in the company of some of the best boys in New York. She trusted them with her life.

_I know, I know, I know, I've been forgiven_

_I know, I know, I know, I'm gonna start living_

She refused to let her past ruin the future she had with the boys, or let it crush any chances of getting out of New York.

Brenna started dancing as the rain continued to pour onto her. Water dripped from her hair to the ground and on her face. She finished singing and tried to gain her breath back from the exertion the singing and dancing had put on her lungs.

No wonder Jack had started singing earlier. She felt so much better now that she had just let it go, no pun intended. With a sigh, she tucked her hair into her cap just so she could get past Kloppman. She gave the old man a small nod as she walked in, a trail of water dripping behind her as she walked up the stairs.

Once she got up to the newsies room, she took her cap off, letting her drenched hair tumble out.

"What happened to you, Tricks?" Race asked.

She smiled cheekily at him. "It's rainin' outside."

"Yeah, no kiddin'. We was gettin' worried."

"I'm not made of glass, guys," she laughed. While she loved the boys for being so protective of her, she sometimes wished they dialed it down. Just because she was a girl didn't mean that she wanted to be treated like she couldn't take care of herself.

She went to the washroom and wrung out her wet hair in the sink. Jack came over to her and helped her undo her bandages on her chest. He was oddly silent, and she just assumed that it was because of what had happened over the course of the night. When he finished with her bandages, he left her to finish changing.

She came back out after hanging out her clothes to dry for the next day and crashed onto her bunk, falling asleep quicker than usual.

* * *

**The song Brenna sings is "Let it Go" by Tim McGraw. I thought the lyrics seemed to really fit how Brenna was feeling, wishing she could just be herself.  
**


	4. Strike!

The next morning, Jack was acting strange. He usually was pretty chipper in the morning. Well, as chipper as a newsie can be so early in the morning. But he seemed almost out of sorts. He didn't talk to nearly any of the other newsies, and he didn't talk to Brenna the entire morning, even when he was helping her get ready. She decided to not think too much about it, but it did seem kind of strange to her.

The rest of the newsies headed to the Distribution Center, but Brenna lagged behind with Jack.

"Alright, whats'a matter?" she asked him.

"What?" he said to her.

"You've been actin' strange ever since last night. What's buggin' ya?"

"It's nothin', really. Don't worry about me, Tricks."

She playfully eyed him suspiciously. His response to her intense stare was putting her in a headlock and digging his knuckles into her head again.

"Truce! Truce!" she shouted.

He laughed as he released her. "See? I'm fine."

To pay him pack for that, Brenna allowed Jack to walk ahead of her then without warning, she ran up to him and jumped on his back. He stumbled forward from the sudden weight on his backside, but then tucked his arms under her legs and supported her as he continued to walk on the street, both of them laughing as he walked.

He was fine alright…until they got to the Distribution Center.

Jack went up to the window where a bunch of newsies sat stewing.

"What's up?" Brenna asked.

"You wanna know what's up, Tricks?" Blink said so angrily, flames were practically shooting out of his mouth. "They jacked up da price! You hear dat, guys? Ten cents a hundred! Ya know, it's bad enough dat we gotta eat what we don't sell, now they jack up da price! Can you believe dat?"

Brenna refused to believe what she just heard. This was not possible. It just wasn't. All of their lives were hard enough and they were barely scraping by. Raising the price was a death sentence.

Oscar mimicked Blink's movements and Brenna wanted nothing more than to pummel him so hard that he became one with the pavement.

"This'll bust me. I'm barely makin' a livin' right now," Skittery said.

"I'll be back sleepin' on da streets," Boots lamented.

At that thought, Brenna's wide eyes went to Jack. There was no way she was going back on the streets. Not after what happened to her. He met her eyes and completely understood why she looked so panicked.

"It don't make no sense," Mush complained. "I mean, all da money Pulitzer's makin', why would he gouge us?"

"Because he's a tight wad, dat's why!" Racetrack shot at him.

"Pipe down!" Jack said over the noise the boys were making. "It's just a gag." He turned to the window. "So, why da jack up, Weasel?"

"Why not?" Weasel smiled. He stuck his finger into his mouth as if testing the wind. "It's a nice day. Why don'tcha ask Mr. Pulitzer?"

Jack angrily walked away from the window and plopped down onto the stairs. "They can't do this to me, Jack," Blink said to him.

"They can do whatever they want," Racetrack told him. "It's their stinkin' paper."

"It ain't fair," Boots cried. "We got no rights at all."

"Come on, it's a rigged deck. They got all the marbles."

"Jack, we got no choice," Mush said. "So why don't we get our lousy papes while they still got some, huh?"

"No!" Jack shouted, surprising them all. "Nobody's goin' anywhere! They can't get away with this!"

Les pushed through the crowd of older boys. "Give him some room, give him some room! Let him think!" He took a seat next to Jack. Blink went to hand Jack his cigarette as consolation, but a very, very sharp glare from Brenna forced him to throw it on the ground and stamp on it instead.

"Jack, ya done thinkin' yet?" Racetrack asked impatiently. Brenna gave him a light slap on the arm.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Weasel shouted from the window. "World employees only on this side of the gate!" This was met by shouts of anger from every single newsie.

"Well, listen," Jack said. "One thing for sure, if we don't sell papes, then nobody sells papes! Nobody comes through those gates until they put da price back to where it was!"

"You mean like a strike?" David asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, like a strike!" Jack replied with complete sincerity.

"Are you out of your mind?" Racetrack yelled.

"It's a good idea!"

David came up next to him. "Jack, I was only joking. We can't go on strike! We don't have a union!"

"But, if we go on strike, then we are a union, right?"

"No, we're just a bunch of angry kids with no money."

"He's got a point there, Jack," Brenna said.

"Maybe if we got every newsie in New York, but…"

"Yeah, well, we organize," Jack said, standing up, his fire inside of him rekindled. "Crutchy, you take up for collection. We get all da newsies of New York together!"

"Jack, this isn't a joke!" David protested. "You saw what happened to those trolley workers!"

"Yeah, well dat's another good idea! Any newsie don't join with us, then we bust their heads like da trolley workers!"

"Stop and think about this, Jack! You can't just rush everybody into this!"

"Alright, let me think about it." Jack led the group of newsies to the Horace Greeley statue outside the Distribution Center. While Brenna was afraid of getting thrown on the streets because of the price change, going on strike meant she wouldn't be earning any money at all which could result in getting thrown on the streets anyway. It was a real lose-lose situation.

"Listen, Dave's right!" he shouted to the boys. "Pulitzer and Hearst and all them other rich fellas, I mean, they own this city, so do they really think a bunch of street kids like us can make any difference? Da choice has gotta be yours. Are we just gonna take what they give us, or are we gonna strike?"

There was silence from everyone, no one wanting to make the first noise. And then…

"Strike!" Les called out. David clapped his hand over his brother's mouth, but the damage was done. At the very word, all the newsies started cheering and it was official. They were on strike.

"Keep talking, Jack!" Boots said. "Tell us what to do!"

Jack turned to David. "Well, you tell us what to do, Davey."

David let out a huge sigh. Brenna stood on the other side of him. She gave him an encouraging smile and he looked at Jack. "Pulitzer and Hearst have to respect our rights," he said quietly.

"Hey listen!" Jack shouted. "Pulitzer and Hearst have to respect da rights of da workin' boys of New York!"

This was met by lots of cheers from all of the boys.

"Well, dat worked pretty good, so what else?" Jack asked.

"Tell them that they can't treat us like we don't exist."

Jack hopped on top of the statue. "Pulitzer and Hearst, they think we're nothin'! Are we nothin'?"

"No!" all the newsies shouted together.

"If we stick together like the trolley workers, then they can't break us up!" David told Jack with ever-growing confidence.

"_Pulitzer and Hearst, they think they got us. Do they got us?_" Jack sang as he ripped a newspaper in half.

"No!"

"We're a union now, the Newsboys Union! We have to start acting like a union!" David added.

_Even though we ain't got hats or badges_

_We're a union just by saying so_

_And da World will know!_

"What's to stop somebody else from sellin' our papes?" Boots asked.

"Well, we'll talk with them!" Jack responded.

"Some of 'em don't hear so good!" Race countered.

"Well then we'll soak 'em!"

"No!" David insisted. "We can't beat up kids in the streets! It'll give us a bad name!"

Brenna smiled. David had good words, Jack had the voice and the status to get the Newsboys to do what he wanted them to do, and they all had firepower. This just might work.

"What's it gonna take to stop da wagons? Are we ready?"

"Yeah!"

_What's it gonna take to stop da scabber?_

_Can we do it?_

_Yeah!_

_We'll do what we gotta do until we_

_Break da will of mighty Bill and Joe!_

_And da World will know_

_And da Journal too!_

_Mr. Hearst and Pulitzer_

_Have we got news for you!_

_Now da World will hear_

_What we've got to say_

_We've been hawkin' headlines_

_But we're makin' 'em today._

_And our ranks will grow!_

_And we'll kick their rear_!" Crutchy sang.

_And da World will know that we been here!_

The newsies continued to sing and dance outside of the Distribution Center as they prepared for their strike.

_When you've got a hundred voices singin'_

_Who can hear a lousy whistle blow?_

_And da World will know_

_Dat this ain't no game_

_Dat we got a ton of rotten fruit and perfect aim_

_So they gave their word_

_But it ain't worth beans!_

_Now they're gonna see what 'stop the presses' really means_

_And the day has come_

_And the time is now_

Brenna watched as Jack climbed up a ladder to a platform. She smiled as she saw all the other boys around getting more and more fired up with each line they sang.

_And da old will fall_

_And da young stand tall_

_And da time is now_

_And da winds will blow_

_And our ranks will grow_

_And grow and grow and so_

_The World will feel the fire_

_And finally know!_

Jack climbed up to where the headlines sat on the chalkboard and wrote over the entire thing in huge letters, "Strike".

It was on.

* * *

**Sorry this was a bit shorter than my other chapters. It's hard to find good stopping points sometimes. But no worries, I'll be back soon enough! :)  
**


	5. The Infamous Spot Conlon

Jack climbed down and stood in front of the cheering boys. Brenna had never felt so elated in her entire life. The adrenaline was coursing through her like it never had before and it was a great feeling.

"We gotta get word out to all da newsies of New York! I need some of those….what'dja call 'em?"

"Ambassadors?" David offered.

Jack began dividing up the boys, sending them to different places in New York to rally up all the other newsies all over the state.

"Say, Jack, I'll take Harlem!" Blink said.

"Yeah, I got Midtown!" Racetrack added.

"I got da Battery, Jack!" Mush sent out.

"Hey, I'll take da Bronx!" Crutchy put in.

The four boys left to go to their respective places.

"Alright," Jack said. "And Bumlets and Specs and Skittery, you take Queens! Pie Eater, Snoddy, East Side! Snipeshooter, you go with 'em! So, what about Brooklyn? Who wants Brooklyn?"

The boys immediately silenced at the sound of the place Manhattan newsies rarely ever set foot.

"Come on, Spot Conlon's territory!" Still nothing. "What'sa matta? Ya scared of Brooklyn?"

"Hey, we ain't scared of Brooklyn!" Boots shot. "Spot Conlon makes us a little nervous…"

"Oh, please," Brenna said. "Spot's just like any of us. He's just hidin' his real self underneath all dat male bravado. It's people like me who can talk him down." She imitated a hair flip, joking with them that because she was a girl, she knew how to talk to guys like him. They all laughed at her little joke. Except for David, who believed that she was just a boy pretending to be effeminate or something.

"Why can't you guys be more like Tricks?" Jack said to the boys.

"Leader's pet," Boots coughed.

"No one asked you," Brenna coughed back.

Jack laughed. "You and me, we'll go to Brooklyn. Boots, come with us. And Dave here can keep us company!"

"Sure," David said with a coy smile. "Just as soon as you deliver our demands to Pulitzer."

Jack paused. "Me? To Pulitzer?"

"You're the leader, Jack."

"He's right," Brenna said. "And da leader speaks to da guy in charge. Go on ahead."

Jack grabbed Les and took him with him. "Well, maybe da kid'll soften him up," he muttered.

All of the newsies cheered as the doors closed behind the two boys. They all dispersed as they waited for Jack to come back out.

"Hey, what is the strike?" a younger man said as he lightly grabbed David's arm. Brenna stood next to him. "What's going on?"

"We're bringing our demands to Pulitzer," David said kind of shyly. Brenna couldn't help but smile. If he was ever going to be a real newsie and now a strike leader, he had to get over that whole shyness thing.

"What demands?" the man asked.

"The newsies demands. We're on strike."

"I'm with the New York Sun. Bryan Denton. You seem like the kid in charge. What's your name?"

"David."

"David. David as in David and Goliath?"

David laughed at the reference to the old Bible story. "Yeah, and this here's Trickster."

"Where'd you get that name?"

Brenna smiled. "Where do ya think?" she answered with a gleam in her eye. _I can guarantee it's not what you're thinking,_ she thought.

Denton smiled warmly at her and once more put his focus on David. "You really think old man Pulitzer's going to listen to your demands?"

"He has to!"

No sooner had those words left his lips when Jack and Les were roughly thrown through the doors to the building.

"Well, so's your old lady!" Jack screamed to the man who had thrown them out. "You tell Pulitzer he needs an appointment with me!"

"Yeah!" Les added as the door slammed.

The two of them walked over to the small group. "I take it it didn't go well…" Brenna said. She couldn't hide the small smile etched on her face at Jack's angry words to the man in the building.

* * *

Denton offered to take the group of them out to lunch at Tibby's in order to learn more about this strike and they gladly accepted. Any chance to get a real meal.

As they sat down to eat, Jack began explaining just what had happened when he went to go confront Pulitzer. As Jack spoke, Denton eagerly wrote down everything he said.

"So this real snooty mug says to me, 'Ya can't see Mr. Pulitzer. No one sees Mr. Pulitzer.'"

Brenna couldn't help but laugh. There was that infamous Jack Kelly mockery!

"Real hoity-toity, you know da type?" he continued.

"Real hoity-toity," Les echoed.

"So dat's when I says to him, 'Listen, I ain't in da habit of transactin' no business with office boys. Just tell him Jack Kelly's here to see him now!'"

"That's when he threw us out."

It was David's turn to laugh at his story.

"Does he scare you?" Denton asked. "You're going up against the most powerful man in New York City."

"Oh yeah, look at me. I'm tremblin'," Jack answered sarcastically.

"Alright, keep me informed. I want to know everything that's going on." He handed David a business card with his information on it.

"Are we really an important story?" David asked.

"Well, what's important? Last year I covered the war in Cuba. Charged up San Juan Hill with Colonel Teddy Roosevelt. That was an important story. So, is the newsies strike important? That all depends on you."

Brenna looked at him. "Dat was really deep," she remarked.

He smiled at her. "I'm a newspaper writer. I get paid to be deep."

"So my name's really gonna be in da papers?" Jack asked.

"Any objections?"

"Not as long as ya get it right. It's Kelly. Jack Kelly. Oh, and Denton? No pictures."

"Sure."

"Why no pictures?" Brenna asked.

"Can't have Snyder findin' me."

"Oh, yeah, I didn't think about dat. At least he hasn't given us any trouble since dat day at da ring."

"Yeah, but I know him, and he won't stop 'til I'm back in da Refuge. Well, I'll die before I go back there willingly."

The group found Boots and they all began to head across the bridge over to Brooklyn.

"I've never been to Brooklyn, have you?" David asked.

"I spent a month there one night," Boots answered. His response confused Brenna at first, but then she realized that for a Manhattan newsie staying in Brooklyn, just one night could feel like an entire month.

"Hey, check this out," Brenna said to David. She, Boots, and Jack all leaned over the side of the bridge and screamed down to the water below at the top of their lungs. They burst out laughing as they stood back up.

"So, is this Spot Conlon really dangerous?" David asked, the concern evident in his voice.

"Depends how ya look at it," Brenna answered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see."

A lot of Brooklyn newsies had decided to take a dip in the water which meant they were in just their underclothes. Brenna prayed the blush wasn't clear on her face. It was one thing to see the boys in the Lodging House in their underclothes. She had been seeing them that way for over two years and had gotten used to it. Seeing boys she didn't know that way made her a little nervous.

"Goin' somewhere, Kelly?" a dripping wet newsie demanded as he stepped in front of them. He eyed Brenna suspiciously, and it took all of her willpower to keep a straight face. Jack just pushed past him and continued on his way.

"Well, if it ain't Jack be nimble, Jack be quick," a voice said from above them.

"I see ya moved up in da world, Spot," Jack said, going over to him. "Got a river view and everythin'."

Spot climbed down from his perch. He and Jack spit in their hands and then shook them.

"Heya Boots!" Spot said. "How's it rollin'?"

"I got a couple of real good shooters here!" Boots handed the boy a couple of his marbles.

"Nice to see ya again, Trickster."

"Wish I could say da same, Spot."

There were very few people who could talk to Spot that way. Brenna was one of them and to be honest, she didn't exactly know why he didn't soak her.

"Aw, now don't be like dat!"

"What can I say? I'm not one to kiss anyone's feet like so many other of da boys do."

Spot smiled at her and loaded his slingshot with his new marbles. "So, Jacky-boy. I've been hearin' things from little boids." He pulled back his slingshot and Brenna giggled when she saw David flinch. "Things from Harlem, Queens, all over. They been chirpin' in my ear. Jacky-boy's newsies is playin' like they're going on strike."

"Yeah, well we are," Jack said.

"Well, we're not playing. We are going on strike," David said.

"Oh yeah? Yeah? What is this, Jacky-boy? Some kind of walkin' mouth?"

"Now, now, Spot. There's no need to be rude to da newb," Brenna said.

"He's right, though," Jack said. "It's a mouth. A mouth with a brain, and if you got half'a one, you'll listen to what he's got to say."

Spot took a seat on a crate and gave his full attention to David.

David looked at Spot nervously and Brenna could tell he was having trouble making words. She clapped a hand onto his shoulder for comfort.

"Well, we started the strike, but we can't do it alone," he finally said. "So, we're talking to newsies all around the city."

"Yeah, so they told me," Spot said. "But what'd they tell you?"

"They're waiting to see what Spot Conlon is doing. See, you're the key. That Spot Conlon is the most respected and famous newsie in all of New York, and probably everywhere else." Wow, he was really sugar-coating it. Brenna had to admit that once he got going, David really had a way with words and he knew how to hit the boys' sweet spots. "And if Spot Conlon joins the strike, then they join and we'll be unstoppable. So you gotta join, because…well, you gotta!"

Spot smirked at him. "You're right Jacky-boy, brains. But I got brains too, and more than just half'a one. How do I know you punks won't run da first time some goon comes at ya with a club? How do I know ya got what it takes to win?"

"Because I'm telling ya, Spot," Jack said firmly.

"Dat ain't good enough, Jacky-boy. Ya gotta show me."

Brenna puffed a breath of air through her cheeks as they all headed back over to Manhattan.

"How are we gonna do this without him?" David said dejectedly.

"Well, he didn't exactly say no," Brenna told him. "He said we gotta show him. So dat's just what we're gonna do. We're gonna show him dat us newsies ain't gonna back down easily."

They made it back to the Horace Greeley statue where the rest of the newsies were waiting to hear what Spot had told them.

"So, where's Spot?" Racetrack asked as they approached the boys.

"He was concerned about us being serious," Jack answered. "You imagine dat?"

"Well, Jack, maybe we ought to ease off a little."

"Without Spot and da others, there ain't enough of us, Jack," Blink added.

"Maybe we're movin' too soon. Maybe we ain't ready, ya know?" Mush said.

Brenna couldn't believe what she was hearing. And after what she had just told David too.

"I definitely think we should forget about it for a little while," Skittery said.

"Oh, do ya?" Jack asked angrily.

"Yeah, I mean, without Brooklyn…ya know…" Racetrack muttered.

"Hey, who are we kiddin' here?" Jack yelled. "Spot was right, is this just a game to you guys?"

"Spot said dat we had to show him dat we can do this strike," Brenna told them. "Is this your idea of showin' him what we're really made of? Backin' down because 'there ain't enough of us'? You guys gotta pull yourselves together!"

The boys looked at her guiltily. Jack gave her a small nudge to show that he was proud of her for talking to those boys in a way he couldn't.

After a small pause, she heard David begin to sing:

_Open the gates and seize the day_

_Don't be afraid and don't delay_

_Nothing can break us _

_No one can make us_

_Give our rights away_

_Arise and seize the day!_

The newsies gathered in front of the statue and began singing and dancing together. Brenna smiled. David was getting them fired up for the strike once more. It was just what they needed to convince Spot that they really meant what they said about going on strike.

_Now is the time to seize the day_

_(Now is the time to seize the day!)_

_Send out the call and join the fray_

_(Send out the call and join the fray!)_

_Wrongs will be righted if we're united_

_Let us seize the day!_

_Friends of the friendless seize the day_

_(Friends of the friendless seize the day!)_

_Raise up the torch and light the way_

_(Raise up the torch and light the way!)_

_Proud and defiant_

_We'll slay the giant_

_Let us seize the day_

All of the newsies continued to sing and dance and Brenna noticed Denton walk by and stop to watch them. At one point during the song, Jack grabbed Brenna and started doing a little dance with her. She couldn't help but laugh as they danced together, doing some admittedly ridiculous moves. Boys started doing all kinds of flips, twists, and turns, and when the song was over, Brenna knew that they were really ready to go on the strike.


	6. David Knows

The circulation bell began to ring, signaling they needed to get their papers.

"Anybody hear dat?" Jack shouted.

"No!" the newsies shouted back.

"So what are we gonna do about it?"

"Soak 'em!"

The group of newsies all headed straight to the Distribution Center. There was a line of boys there to get some papers and start selling them. But they were not going to take that sitting down. The first boy got his papers and walked down the steps only to come face-to-face with the group of very angry newsies. He took one look at them and threw his papers on the ground. Two other boys held their hands up in surrender as they joined the first. Then there was a big tough boy with a big stack of papers perched on his shoulder. In each direction he went, one of the strikers stopped him from progressing any further. When he faced Jack, Jack pounded the papers in his hand to the ground. He went to go pick them up, but that didn't make them very happy. The boy got kicked in the gut and from there, chaos ensued.

The boys waiting in line quickly dispersed as the newsies grabbed every paper they could find and ripped them over and over again. Brenna watched Jack climb up to the top window and press his face firmly against the glass. She laughed only imagining the faces he was giving the people inside.

The World delivery cart got pushed over, sprawling the newspapers inside all over the ground. None of them hesitated in picking them up and ripping them to shreds. If news of this little incident didn't make Spot want to help them, Brenna didn't know what would.

Suddenly, there was the sound of hoof beats and whistles. That could only mean one thing.

"Hey, cheese it! Cheese it, it's da Bulls!" Jack screamed. Brenna looked up and saw lots of policemen coming their way. She started running when she heard someone cry out, "Crutchy! Crutchy, scram!"

Brenna turned around and saw the exit blocked by the policemen's horses…with Crutchy still inside.

"Crutchy!" she screamed. She started to run towards him, but a firm hand on her wrist stopped her from reaching the blocked gates. She watched in horror as the Delancey brothers came up to the poor boy and knocked his crutch out from under him and dragged him away. As hard as she fought against the person holding her, it was no use.

"Come on, we gotta go!"

It was then she realized that the person holding her was none other than David. If she didn't like the boy so much, she might've creamed him.

"You won't be any help if you get taken too!"

Her hands balled into fists as she fought the urge to punch someone. Reluctantly, she ran off with David before the police could catch either one of them.

Unfortunately, luck was not on Brenna's side. As if the whole day couldn't get any worse, in the process of running away, her cap managed to get knocked off, allowing her brown hair to tumble down. She gasped as she stopped running. David took one look at her and his eyes widened at the newfound revelation.

"You tell no one," she ordered as she furiously stuffed her hair back under her cap. "Only da boys in da Lodging House and Medda know. You tell anyone, it's not just my head on da line, it's yours too. Got it?"

David just nodded his head, still in shock.

"You gotta swear." She spit in her hand and held it out to him.

He looked at her hand in disgust. "I swear, but I'm not doing that."

Brenna rolled her eyes. "You gotta get over dat."

They were a safe enough distance away from the Distribution Center to the point where they walked back to the Lodging House where the rest of the boys had undoubtedly gone back to. They walked in awkward silence for a long time before David finally decided to break it.

"So, uh, can I ask you what your real name is?"

"Brenna. Brenna Jennings."

"And only the boys in Manhattan know?"

"Yeah, and we decided to tell Medda because we knew I would need a girl to talk to eventually. We never told da owner of da Lodging House though. We were afraid of what he'd say and do."

"Well, you had me fooled. And I guess everyone else too."

"I guess so. It's kinda hard to have to pretend to be someone I'm not."

"And let me guess, your nickname is Trickster because…"

"…because I'm trickin' everyone into believin' I'm a boy," she finished.

They reached the Lodging House and the both of them went upstairs to the bunk room. Once there, all of the boys ran up to them frantically.

"There you both are!" Race said. "We thought you got taken by da Bulls!"

"Well, we didn't but…Crutchy did," Brenna said. "And uh…David knows."

The mindless chatter in the room immediately silenced at her words. David awkwardly looked at his feet, feeling quite small under all of their gazes.

Jack walked up to the boy. "Listen here, Dave. Tricks is one of us. And we look out for her, just like she looks out for us. You're one of us too, so dat means you gotta keep her secret. It's real important to all of us."

"I won't tell a soul," David insisted.

"Good. 'Cause we can't lose her now. You saw how she was with Spot and in gettin' these boys motivated. With this strike comin' up, she's helpful to us in a lot of ways. Without her, we'll never get anywhere."

Brenna was a bit taken aback. She had never heard Jack talk that way about her before. Truth be told, she didn't really mind.

"So what are we gonna do about Crutchy?" she asked.

"Well, they're gonna be takin' him to da Refuge. So we gotta go break him outta there. Dat isn't a place for someone like him. Or any boy for dat matta. Here's the plan."

* * *

**So now David knows her secret! How will this change their friendship? (And no, I am not going to have a love triangle!)  
**


	7. Soak 'Em For Crutchy

They waited until it was dark to put Jack's plan into action. He, David, and Brenna then left the Lodging House and walked as quickly as they could to the Refuge. Jack had refused to let Brenna come along, but she in turn refused to take no for an answer. In the end, Brenna won out and there the three of them were to break out their friend.

"So here it is," Jack said as they approached the building. "Da Refuge. My home, sweet home."

"How can you be sure they sent him here?" David asked.

"How can I be sure da Delanceys stink? It's just how things work, ya know?"

Despite their situation, Brenna could not hide her smile at his words, mostly because they were true.

"An orphan gets arrested, Snyder makes sure he gets sent straight here, so he can 'rehabilitate' him. Da more kids in da Refuge, da more money da city sends to take care of 'em, da more Snyder sticks it in his pocket."

"Snyder only lets everyone believe he's helpin' da boys. He's really just keepin' 'em captive in a place arguably worse than actual jail," Brenna added.

David's brow furrowed at their words as he realized the gravity of the whole situation.

"So how come you brought the rope?" he asked.

There was no time to answer his question because a carriage began to pull out from the entrance gate. Jack pulled Brenna and David next to him against the wall and he concealed them all in the shadows of the night. While the guard was distracted, the three of them snuck through the open gates.

They climbed the fire escape and got on the roof the Refuge. Jack tied the rope around his chest, and ever so slowly, Brenna and David lowered him down until he was at the window.

They could tell that Jack was talking to someone on the other side, but it was nearly impossible to hear their conversation.

"Is the Refuge really as bad as Jack says it is?" David asked her quietly.

"Well, obviously, I've never been there. But Jack's not da only one with stories. I've heard lots of things from newsies all over New York about their time in da Refuge and none of 'em are pretty."

There was a bit more silence between them.

"Heya Dave! Trickster! How ya both doin'?" they heard Crutchy throw up to the roof.

"Shh!" David shushed, not wanting to get caught.

There was a bit more conversation between Crutchy and Jack before they heard him call out to them once more, "Hey, guys! You know, they still talk about how Jack rode outta here on dat coach!"

"Oh, yeah!" David said. "Teddy Roosevelt's, right?"

"You already heard da story!"

"You mean it's true?"

"Of course!"

At that moment, Jack swung himself to the side, and Brenna guessed Snyder had come into the room.

"Okay, guys," he whispered up to them. "Pull me up."

David and Brenna worked together to pull the rope and get Jack back on the roof.

"What's goin' on?" Brenna asked. "Are we gettin' him? Is he comin'?"

"No," Jack said, avoiding her eyes. "Da Delancey brudders…they didn't deliver him to da Refuge without…having a little 'fun' with him first."

Brenna's hands curled into fists again. "I'll kill 'em."

"Whoa, there. Take it easy. I want to soak 'em just as much as you do, believe me. All in good time, I promise."

"I never did like them."

"Has anyone ever liked them?"

They dejectedly walked back to the Lodging House and told the rest of the boys the bad news. As much as it pained all of them, it only fired them up more about the strike and they were now more determined than ever to win.

As the rest of the newsies prepared for bed, Brenna walked over to Crutchy's empty bed. The whole place just wasn't the same without him. She sighed as she leaned against the bedpost. She then felt an arm drape around her shoulders. When she looked up, she saw it was Jack.

"Don't worry. We'll get him outta there one way or anudder."

"Of all the newsies in New York, he was da one who deserves to be in there da least. It ain't fair."

"Whoever said life was fair?"

* * *

The boys' moods had plummeted drastically ever since Crutchy had been taken to the Refuge. But that didn't stop them from getting to the Distribution Center bright and early for another day of striking.

The Manhattan newsies all formed lines in front of the gates and then their voices were heard in perfect harmony:

_Open the gates and seize the day_

_Don't be afraid and don't delay_

_Nothing can break us_

_No one can make us_

_Give our rights away_

_Arise and seize the day_

Some of the younger boys tapped on some cans in rhythm and the newsies began dancing together in front of the building. The longer they danced, the more fired up they became. Brenna found herself smiling as she danced wildly. Towards the end, Jack did a little spin with her and then linked arms with her and the others as they blocked the entrance to the building.

They were all caught off guard as the delivery cart barreled through the gates, forcing them to break their perfect formation. But as soon as it was gone, they all came together again and found themselves face-to-face with more boys armed with their papers and ready to sell. Or at least…they thought they were going to sell.

"Alright. Everyone remain calm!" David ordered.

No one dared move until Jack yelled, "Let's soak 'em for Crutchy!"

At the sound of her friend's name, Brenna felt a fire rise up inside of her like never before. The newsies charged at the other boys who ran to the back door inside the Distribution Center and began hitting it. When the door opened, Brenna realized to her horror just why they had been banging on it.

"Oh! Jack!" Racetrack screamed. "Jack, da Cribs!

The newsies were faced with a ton of men with clubs, chains, and other instruments of torture that they planned on using to inflict numerous amounts of pain to the poor boys. Even worse, when they went to go retreat, they found that the police had shut the gates, forbidding them from leaving.

The Cribs formed a barrier which prevented the newsies from helping Jack in his face-off with the Delancey brothers.

"Jack!" Brenna screamed as he got backed up onto the stairs.

Just when Brenna thought for sure Jack was finally in for it, she heard above them, "Never fear, Brooklyn is here!"

Brenna never thought she would actually be happy to hear Spot Conlon's voice. She made eye contact with him and he nodded to her with a smirk.

All of the Brooklyn newsies loaded their slingshots and started abusing the Cribs in more ways than one. Who knew little marbles and pebbles could turn the tables in so many ways?

One of the Cribs grabbed Brenna from behind. Now she had learned a lot about fighting from the boys over the course of her stay with them, especially from Jack. However, they had not gone over what she was supposed to do if someone grabbed her like the man had. As much as she tried to employ every fighting technique she knew, he surpassed her strength by far and he was crushing the air out of her lungs.

"Tricks!" she heard Jack yell. She saw him trying to fight his way over to her, but he kept getting stopped by other newsies and the Cribs.

Suddenly, a huge force collided with the man holding her and they both fell over. She was released from his iron hold and when she looked up, she found that Spot had swung down and kicked the guy away from her. He was about to punch him, but she caught his fist before he could. She said nothing, but just smirked at him. He got the silent message and held his arms out for her. She sent him a nod before delivering such a hard punch to the guy's nose that she felt it crack beneath her knuckles.

"Are you alright?" Jack said, having finally gotten to her.

She smiled at him as she rubbed her fist. "Why don't you ask him?"

He looked at the man on the ground with blood flowing from his face and smiled at his friend.

Everywhere around them, newsies punched several of the guys. Brenna turned to Spot. "Is this proof enough for ya?"

He smiled at her and opened up the gates allowing Brooklyn newsies to flood in. The wave of boys forced the Cribs back through the doors they had come out of. Jack, David, Spot, and Brenna stood together in front of victoriously as Jack ripped another newspaper in half.

"Jack! Boys! Freeze! Freeze!" they heard. Brenna turned to find Denton standing there with his camera.

The boys standing in front of the door all struck a pose. Jack and Brenna ended up being the only ones ready for it.


	8. King of New York

The next day, the newsies got up and dressed bright and early to go to Tibby's where Denton had requested to meet them.

When they all got to the restaurant, almost all the boys ordered something huge since Denton had offered to pay for everything for them.

"Hey fellas!" Denton exclaimed as he waltzed into the restaurant. "Hey, hey! Big time!"

He slapped an edition of the New York Sun onto the table right in front of where Jack was sitting. All of them crowded around him to see what Denton had done for them. There was the picture he had taken right smack dab on the front page.

"Where's me picture? Where's me picture?" Spot demanded.

Brenna rolled her eyes. Self-obsessed, conceited Spot as always.

"All them words there!" Boots exclaimed. "They all about us?"

Mush laughed and pointed to Jack. "Look at you, Jack. Ya look like a general or somethin'!"

"Will you get your fingers off me face?" Jack said, brushing his hand away.

"Where does it say my name?" Spot asked. "Where's my name?"

"Will ya quit thinking about yourself?"

"If ya really wanna know, Spot," Brenna said. "Your picture is right there and ya look clueless as ever and like you're dancin' with Blink."

Brenna was pretty sure she saw the faintest trace of a blush on his cheeks as he realized that she was right.

"You got us on the front page," David said proudly to Denton.

"You got yourselves on the front page. I just got to make sure you stay there," he answered.

"So what?" Skittery complained. "Ya get your picture in da papes, so what's dat get ya, huh?"

"Way to be a spoil-sport," Brenna said to him.

"You been in a bad mood all day!" Jack added.

"I'm not in a bad mood!" Skittery retorted.

"You been glum and dumb!" Race scolded as he shoved his face away. "What'sa matta with you? Ya get your picture in da papes, you're famous. You're famous, ya get anythin' ya want. Dat's what so great about New York!"

Then Mush began to sing:

"_A pair of new shoes with matchin' laces_!"

"_A permanent box at Sheepshed Races_!" Racetrack added.

"_A porcelain tub with boiling water_!" Spot sang.

"_A Saturday night with da mayor's daughter_!" Blink joked.

Racetrack jumped onto a table and started singing and dancing:

_Look at me I'm da King of New York!_

_Suddenly I'm respectable_

_Staring right atcha_

_Lousy with stature_

Brenna smiled, but knew she couldn't join in because it would just be a lie. She couldn't be King of New York. Despite the façade she put on for everyone, she was a girl and girls weren't kings. And if she said Queen, it would give her away to Denton and everyone else in the restaurant. It was just one of those times she wished she could just be herself.

Jack seemed to notice that she was feeling a little out of place because he threw his arm around her and sang:

_Nubbin' with all da muckety-mucks_

_I'm blowin' my dough and goin' deluxe!_

Racetrack went next to her as well and continued singing:

_And there I'll be_

_Ain't I pretty?_

Then he and Jack sang together:

_It's my city _

_I'm da king of New York!_

Brenna laughed at their attempts to help her feel included. She could always count on them to perk her up at the end of the day.

The song continued as they transitioned to calling Denton the King of New York since he was the one who got them there in the first place.

Several of the newsies got onto the tables and began to dance. Then they began to sing how they were King of New York once more. Jack came over to her and, quietly in her ear but loud enough for just her to hear, instead of singing "I'm the King" he sang "You're the Queen." She smiled at him and playfully shoved his head over.

_Holy cow! It's a miracle _

_Pulitzer's cryin' _

_Weasel? He's dyin'! _

_Flashpots are shooting bright as da sun _

_I'm one hifalutin' son of a gun! _

_Don't ask me how _

_Fortune found me _

_Fate just crowned me _

_Now I'm King of New York! _

_Look and see_

_Once a piker _

_Now a striker _

_I'm da King of New York! _

_Victory! Front page story _

_Guts and glory _

_I'm da King of New York!_

They finished their song and all the newsies cheered at their good fortune overall in the strike thus far. Brenna couldn't help but smile as she thought back to Jack helping her feel more included in the song. In fact, recently, he had been helping out that way a lot. She didn't know what had brought on these sudden acts of kindness, but she wasn't going to complain.

"So, let's have some ideas," Jack said.

"Well, we gotta show people where we stand," David explained.

"Yeah, so we gotta stay in da papes."

"My paper's the only one printing any strike news so far," Denton told them.

"So, we should do somethin' dat's so big, da other papers'll feel stupid if they try to ignore us…Like a rally! A newsie rally with all da kids from all over New York. It'll be da biggest, loudest, noisiest blow-out this town's ever seen!"

"We'll send a message to the big boys!" David said.

One of the waiters brought a tray of glasses filled with soda for each of them. One by one, they all grabbed one of the glasses.

"There's a lot of us," Jack continued. "And we ain't goin' away. We'll fight until Doomsday if it means we get a fair shake!"

"Hey, guys," David said, holding up his glass. "To our man, Denton!"

"Our man Denton!" the newsies agreed in chorus. They lifted up their glasses and took a sip. Through the corner of her eye, Brenna saw Jack looking at her. He had been acting so different towards her ever since that night at the Jacobs' house. He seemed more…protective of her, if that was the right word. It was weird to say the least.

* * *

Later that night, all the newsies were in the Lodging House preparing for another day of striking and the rally to be held the next night. After they had decided to hold a rally, they had spent the next few hours or so at the restaurant planning for it. They had then asked Medda if they could use Irving Hall as their location, to which she happily agreed. If it went well, the strike could essentially end within the next few days, which Brenna was glad about because not making any money was really a thorn in her side.

Brenna was helping Snipeshooter make a sign when she saw a sadly very familiar face enter the Lodging House. Her eyes widened as they rested on none other than Warden Snyder. She remained silent and gently nudged Bumlets so he could see who decided to crash their place.

Snyder picked up Kloppman's book, but Kloppman quickly took it away from him.

"Excuse me. Can I help you?" he said kindly, though Brenna knew that Kloppman knew exactly who he was talking to.

"You have a boy who calls himself Jack Kelly?" Snyder asked smoothly. Too smooth. "I wish to see him."

"Jack Kelly? Jack…Never heard of him." Brenna had never loved the man more in her life. "Never heard of him. Any of you boys ever hear of a 'Jack Kelly'?"

Brenna played along and shook her head.

"Dat's an unusual name for these parts," Specs commented.

Jack walked into the room, but Brenna and Swifty quickly stopped him from progressing. Brenna put a finger to her lips as Swifty pointed out who was in the Lodging House with them.

"Oh, you mean Jack Kelly!" Racetrack exclaimed. "Yeah, he was here, but he put an egg in his shoe and beat it."

Brenna laughed along with the other newsies. Jack, being the idiot she knew he was, ducked behind Snyder and hid right behind his back.

"I have reason to believe he's an escaped prisoner, possibly dangerous."

"Oh, dangerous?" Kloppman stuttered, really milking it up for the old man. Jack put his hand to his chest in surprise, as if it was impossible for someone to believe he was dangerous in any way. Brenna put her hand to her mouth in order to stifle her giggles. "I better look in my files. This way please."

Brenna grabbed his arm and dragged him out the way he had come in. They jogged a small distance away from the Lodging House.

"What are you goin' to do now?" she asked him.

"I guess I'll have to find somewhere else to stay tonight," he answered.

"Like where? Where in da world will you go?"

"I'll find somewhere."

"Just…be careful."

"Yes, Ma."

"Ha ha. You're so funny, Cowboy," Brenna said sarcastically.

"Call it a gift," he said with a small bow. She watched him take off, wondering where he would go to crash. She was pretty worried about him, but she decided that it would be best to not think about it. After all, Jack was much tougher than she was and could handle himself. She slowly walked back to the Lodging House with her hands shoved in her pockets. She realized that without him, she wouldn't be able to get her bandages off by herself. Even though she loved the other boys, she really didn't want any of them seeing her so bare, even if they only saw her empty back. She decided she would just sleep in them that night, seeing as she didn't want to have another boy put them on again either. Jack had been doing it for so long now that it was normal. Having someone else do it just seemed…wrong.

When she got back, Snyder was thankfully gone, and most of the boys had retired upstairs to get some rest before the rally. First Crutchy's bed was empty then Jack's. Brenna disliked this starting trend, even though she knew Jack was only going to be gone for one night.

She stared at his empty, unmade bed, willing him to come back so she would know he was safe.

"I wouldn't worry about Cowboy, Tricks," Race said as he came up behind her. "He's a tough guy."

"I know dat, Race. Call it my maternal instincts."


	9. The Rally

When Brenna awoke, her chest was pretty sore from sleeping in the bandages since her body wasn't used to her doing that to herself. But she was really excited for the rally to take place that evening. She just hoped Jack had done okay during the night.

He ended up returning to the Lodging House a short while after they had all gone through their morning routine.

"Jack!" she called, resisting the urge to throw her arms around him. "Are you okay? Where did ya go?"

"Whoa, calm down, Tricks. I'm fine. I went to da Jacobs' house. But it was pretty late so I just stayed on the da fire escape. Sarah was kind enough to give me breakfast this morning."

"I'm just glad you're okay."

"I told ya I would be. And uh…" He pulled her closer so that only she heard him. "Sorry I wasn't here to, ya know, help ya out."

"Jack, it's not your fault. I'm fine, really. What we need to worry about is getting ready for da rally!"

They spent all day getting the word out to the newsies all over New York. Jack insisted that David bring Sarah along to join in on the fun.

When the rally finally began, Irving Hall was packed with probably hundreds of newsies from all over the state.

Brenna sat down with Sarah at the table closest to the stage. Sarah looked so beautiful. She had really dressed up for the occasion. Brenna couldn't help but feel a little jealous that she got to look so pretty. Jack, David, and Spot hopped onto the stage and Jack waved his hands for a few seconds in order to get everyone to quiet down.

When they all finally shut up, he screamed, "Carryin' da banner!" The entire place filled with raucous cheers as they stood up from their seats. Brenna had never seen so much fire in the newsies. They definitely had what it took to win this strike.

"So, we've come a long way, but we ain't there yet and maybe it's only gonna get tougher from now on! But dat's fine, we'll just get tougher with it. But also—also, we gotta get smart and start listenin' to my pal David, who says stop soakin' the scabs!"

"What are we supposed to do to da bums?" Racetrack asked. "Kiss 'em?"

"Oh ho ho," Brenna fake laughed. "Hilarious, Race."

"Any scab I see, I soak 'em. Period," Spot said. The newsies cheered in agreement.

"No, no!" David yelled over their cheers. "That's what they want us to do! If we get violent, it's just playing into their hands!"

"Hey, look. They're gonna be playing with my hands, alright. 'Cause it ain't what they say, it's what we say. And nobody ain't gonna listen to us unless we make 'em!"

The newsies cheered once again agreeing with Spot.

"Ya got no brains!" Jack yelled over the commotion. "Why we startin' to fight each other? It's just what da big shot's wanna see. Dat we're street rats! Street rats with no brains. No respect for nothin', including ourselves! So, here's how it's gonna be. If we don't act together, then we're nothin'! If we don't stick together, then we're nothin'! And if we can't even trust each other, then we're nothin'!"

Brenna stared at him. Where had that come from? Jack was never known for speaking so…well, powerfully.

"Tell 'em Jack!" Blink yelled from his perch on one of the box seats.

"So, what's it gonna be?" Jack shouted.

The newsies in Irving Hall muttered their agreements with him.

"So, what about you, Spot?"

"I say dat what you say…is what I say."

The two boys spit shook while the rest of the newsies cheered for them, happy that Spot finally agreed to do the strike with them under their terms.

The curtain behind the boys parted revealing none other than Medda. All of the boys cheered and stood up. Brenna looked around and rolled her eyes. Men.

Medda smiled and began to sing an old favorite that all the newsies knew, and therefore they sang along with her.

_High times, hard times_

_Sometimes the living is sweet_

_And sometimes there's nothing to eat_

_But I always land on my feet_

_So when there's dry times_

_I wait for high times and then_

_I put on my best_

_And I stick out my chest_

_And I'm off to the races again!_

"Hello, newsies!" Medda said happily. "What's new?"

She continued to sing and dance with all the newsies. Brenna couldn't help but laugh at their silly movements.

During the chorus, Jack sang directly to Sarah. Then he quickly stood up and pulled Brenna up from her chair. He danced with her for a little bit then he brought her over to Medda where the three of them all started dancing together.

_I put on my best! _

_(I put on my best!)_

_And I stick out my chest! _

_(And I stick out my chest!)_

_And I'm off _

_(And I'm off)_

_And I'm off _

_(And I'm off)_

_And I'm off _

_To the races again!_

Medda got on a little swing and then jumped off on her final note. The newsies lifted her above the crowd as they cheered wildly for her. Medda gave Brenna a little kiss on the cheek when they set her back down, fully realizing that she probably was feeling a bit weird in this crowd of boys. Brenna smiled at her and hugged the woman.

She saw David come onstage and say something to Jack, but she had no idea what he said because he was drowned out by the cheering. She realized what was happening when she followed where he was pointing. After such a wonderful night, Snyder had decided to crash their party. Again.

"Medda, thanks! I gotta run," Jack said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Snyder blew a whistle and cops and Cribs flooded into the building from all different directions.

"Oh, I really hate dat man," Brenna groaned.

David and Jack grabbed Sarah and Les and hurried them over to the exit.

"Go! Go!" they urged.

Jack turned to Brenna. "Ya gotta get out of here!"

"Well I'm not leavin'!" she screamed. "Not after all of this!"

Jack didn't have time to argue so he, Brenna, and David hopped all over the place trying to escape from the cops. They ended up back onstage behind Medda's swing. Snyder followed them onstage and started approaching them menacingly.

David got on the swing. "Push me!" he ordered. Jack and Brenna gave him a huge push and his feet collided with Snyder's face. "Get out of here! Go!"

Brenna grabbed Jack's hand tightly and the two of them ran all over the stage only to be met with cops and Cribs at each turn. Jack turned and hopped onto one of the box seats and reached for Brenna's hand to pull her up. A couple of Cribs latched onto her feet, but she was through losing to them. With all the force she had in her, she loosened her foot just enough to kick the Cribs as hard as she could in the face. It gave Jack just enough time to pull Brenna up on the box seat with him. She grabbed his hand once more and ran out to the lobby.

"Blink!" she called as she ran up to the boy. He grabbed the both of them and they all ran outside. To Brenna's horror, cops sat on their horses providing no escape route. They turned to go back in and try to get out through the back. One of the cops grabbed Jack, but Blink tackled him. Brenna winced as the cop whacked him with his stick but knew that she could not stay. Grasping Jack's hand even tighter, they managed to get back into the lobby. The two of them fell backwards at the bottom of the stairs. One of the horses bucked up and almost landed on their legs. Brenna looked at Jack. "Run!" she urged. Reluctantly, he took off up the stairs.

Brenna got up and watched as Jack ran up the stairs…and got punched in the face by one of the Cribs.

"Jack!" she screamed. Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming pain on the back of her head. Black spots danced across her vision before she collapsed. Her last thoughts were of Jack.


	10. Brenna's Story

**And now we finally start getting into the good stuff...**

* * *

Brenna awoke to a splitting headache so strong, it made her eyes water. She groaned as she slowly sat up. "Oh, dat smarts…"

"Nice to see you're awake, Tricks," she heard Racetrack say to her.

She looked over and saw that she was in a room with a lot of other newsies. Most of them were Manhattan newsies, but a few of them, like Spot, were from other places.

"Where are we?" she asked as she rubbed her head.

"The courthouse, waitin' for our trial," Racetrack answered.

"Our trial?"

"Yep."

Brenna's eyes widened in a moment of panic. "My cap…"

"Don't worry about it. It fell off when they threw ya in here, but we didn't allow 'em to see ya. We put your cap back on for ya after they left."

Brenna looked over at Spot. "So dat means you know."

"It wasn't a surprise."

She smiled in disbelief. "How long have you known?"

"Ever since ya came to visit me to try to convince me to join da strike. You were blushin' pretty bad at da sight of so many underdressed boys. I kinda figured it out from there."

"Lovely."

"I ain't gonna tell no one. Swear. Newsies honor."

In yet another moment of panic, she said quietly, "Jack…"

"Da Cribs got him. They're holdin' him in another part of da courthouse," Racetrack told her.

Brenna sighed. "It's my fault. If I had just left like he told me to…"

"Nah, it ain't your fault, Tricks. There was just too many of 'em."

Brenna was about to say something, but before she could, a cop came and escorted them all to the courtroom.

All of them were forced to stand in front of a really old, mean-looking judge. "Any of you represented by council?" he asked. The boys looked at each other blankly. Who would ever represent a group of newsies? "No? Good, that will move things along considerably."

"Hey, Your Honor, I object!" Spot demanded.

"On what grounds?" the judge asked.

"On da grounds of Brooklyn, Your Honor."

The group of boys laughed at his comment. Their smiles quickly faded with what the judge said next. "I fine each of you five dollars, or two weeks confinement in the House of Refuge."

"Whoa, whoa, we ain't got five bucks," Racetrack said. "We don't even got five cents. Hey, Your Honor, how 'bout I roll ya for it. Double or nothin'?"

Brenna rolled her eyes. His smart little comments were not going to help their case.

"Alright. Move along, move along."

Brenna looked at the other boys with wide eyes. Where on earth were they going to get five dollars?

Their saving grace came in the form of Denton. He came into the courtroom with David and Les tagging along behind him. "Your Honor, I'll pay the fines. All of them."

They all went over to the captive boys. "Hey, you fellas alright? Where's Jack?" David asked.

"Look, we've got to meet at the restaurant," Denton said urgently. "Everybody. We have to talk."

"Pay the clerk!" the judge ordered to Denton. "Move it along!"

At that moment, Jack was led into the courtroom with his hands cuffed behind him.

"Jack!" Brenna called.

"Hey fellas!" he called back.

"Hey, Cowboy! Nice shiner!" Race laughed.

Denton went over to him. "Hey, Denton. I guess we made all da papes this time. So, how's my picture look?"

"None of the papers covered the rally," Denton answered quietly. "Not even the Sun."

Brenna was speechless. So the Trolley Strike gets on the front page of every newspaper for three weeks, but an even bigger strike doesn't make any paper on any page? That was just messed up in so many ways.

"Case of Jack Kelly," the bailiff called out. "Inciting a riot. Assault. Resisting arrest."

"Judge Monahan, I'll speak for this young man," a sickening voice said. Brenna felt rage boil up inside her at the sight of the man who had ruined all of their lives, Jack's more than anyone. If he was going to "speak" for Jack, she had a feeling this was going to go south and fast.

"You two know each other. Ain't dat nice," Jack said sarcastically.

"Just move it along, Warden Snyder," the judge said.

"This boy's real name is Francis Sullivan. His mother's deceased. His father's a convict in the state penitentiary," Snyder explained. Brenna saw Jack look over at David, who put his head down in disappointment. She figured he wasn't happy that Jack had lied to him about his life. "He's an escapee from the House of Refuge where his original sentence for three months was extended to six months for disruptive behavior."

"Like demanding we eat the food you steal from us," Jack said firmly.

"Followed by an additional six months for an attempted escape."

"Attempted? Last time it wasn't an attempted escape. Remember, Snyder? Remember me and Teddy Roosevelt? Remember Roosevelt and da carriage?"

"Therefore, I ask that he be returned to the House of Refuge."

"What? For my own good, right? Move along? For my own good and for what? He kicks back to you?"

"I ask that the court order his incarceration until the age of twenty-one, in the hope that we may yet guide him to a useful and productive life."

"So ordered," the judge said with a bang of his gavel.

"What?" Brenna cried out.

As Jack was taken away, he met her eyes just for a brief second. She saw so much guilt in them that it hurt her. Like he felt it was his own fault that he was getting this sentence and that he was leaving Brenna alone with the other boys.

"I'm sorry," she mouthed to him.

He shook his head slightly and she watched as he was taken to the House of Refuge right before her eyes. The group of newsies dispersed slowly all heading to Tibby's for whatever Denton wanted. Brenna stood there right outside the courtroom, shaking with anger.

"Tricks," David said coming over to her. "You, uh, you alright?"

"David," she growled. "Give me somethin' to rip."

"Wait, what?"

"It's how I deal with my anger. Now give me somethin' to rip before it is your head!"

David frantically looked around for something to give her. "Uh…" he stuttered. He whipped off the brown vest he was wearing and handed it to her. "Here."

"I'm not gonna rip your nice vest."

"Sarah can just mend it for me."

"If you insist." She grabbed the vest from him and with almost no effort, ripped it clean in two. She slammed the two pieces into his chest.

"Whoa…"

She angrily walked off, and he went to go catch up with her.

"Did you know all that stuff about him?" he asked.

Brenna sighed. "No, but I'm not surprised. Most of us newsies are runaways or people with bad histories. When we start this life, we start over. We wanna forget our past as much as possible, so sometimes we create new lives for ourselves."

"What about you?"

"David…I'm pretendin' to be a boy. Obviously, I pretty much started a new life along with everyone else."

"Why do you pretend to be a boy?"

"It's dangerous for a girl out on the streets of New York. Even more dangerous for a girl to be a newsie."

"How did you get started in all this?"

Brenna sighed again. "When I was eleven years old, we lost our money. And with it, our house. My parents were taken away from me and I was sent to a girls' workhouse to live. It was terrible there. Da working conditions were awful and da livin' conditions were even worse. I stayed there for two years before I ran away and started livin' on da streets."

"So then, how did you meet Jack?"

"It was when we were both fifteen…"

* * *

_Brenna was starving. Living on the streets was bad, but she'd rather die there than go back to the workhouse. Sometimes, she had to steal to get her food and pray she didn't get caught and sent to jail. The sun was still shining high in the sky, blazing down on her, making her even weaker. As she walked along the nearly empty streets of New York, she felt like someone was following her. But when she looked behind her no one was there. Suddenly, she felt hands on her arms and she was yanked into an alleyway. She was pulled into some man's hard chest. _

_"__Hey, there, sweet thing," he purred. His breath reeked of alcohol._

_"__Get off me," she demanded._

_He just laughed at her and held onto her firmly. She pulled her hand up and slapped his cheek hard. He did not like that. He whacked her on the face and sent her to the ground. That was when she realized there was another man in the alley along with the first. Before she could see his face, he held her arms down with his own very strong ones. She was so weak from starvation that she had no energy to try to fight back_

_The first man bent down over her. She tried to get up and run, but the second man refused to release his hold on her. The first man caressed her legs and his hands started lifting higher and higher. She began screaming but the man holding her arms hit her face before holding her down again. She could feel her skirt being slowly lifted up as tears streamed down her face at what was to come._

_Suddenly, the man got knocked down before he could do anything further to her. She looked up and saw a young boy around her age beating the first man senseless. When he finished with him, he moved over to the second. He released Brenna's arms and slammed her into the wall. She saw her vision go fuzzy as pain shot through her head._

_When Jack had defeated both of the creeps, he went over to the young girl. She was so pretty, but deathly thin. It made him sick to think about how those two psychos had almost destroyed this poor little innocent girl's virtue._

_He took her face in his hands and gently shook her a little. Her eyes fluttered open for just a second before closing again. After careful inspection, he was thankful to see that there was no blood where her head had collided with the wall._

_Jack slipped one arm under her legs and the other around her waist and carried her back to the Lodging House where he could take care of her._

_She was so thin from the lack of food that carrying her was way easier than it should've been._

_When he got to the Lodging House, he saw that Racetrack was sitting on the porch smoking a cigar._

_"__Race!" he called._

_"__Whoa, what happened, Cowboy?" Racetrack asked as he quickly stood up._

_"__She's hurt. Distract Kloppman so I can take her upstairs."_

_Racetrack went inside the Lodging House and got the old man to go check on something at the back door. While he was gone, Jack carefully made his way up the stairs._

_As soon as the other boys laid eyes on him, they all ran over to him to inspect the girl he was carrying._

_"__Shh!" Jack shushed, not wanting to wake her. He set her down on the bunk below him after he got an 'okay' from the bed's owner. He pulled the sheet over her small body and left her to rest. "Okay, guys!" he whispered, shoving the boys away. "Leave her be."_

_Brenna didn't wake up until late that night. She moaned and put her hand to her aching head. Her eyes refused to open at first, begging her to go back to sleep._

_At the sound of the girl's moans, all of the boys went over to her. As he thought back on it, Jack realized that it had not been a smart idea for him to bring the poor girl back to a place where a bunch of boys lived after she had just been assaulted._

_Sure enough, when Brenna finally opened her eyes, she gasped at the sight of more than twenty boys staring at her. She quickly sat up, wondering just what had happened after she had been knocked out, and assumed the worst._

_Jack fought his way through the crowd of boys to the side of the bed. "Hey, hey, it's okay," he said softly, taking her small hand in his. "No one here is going to hurt ya. I promise."_

_Brenna looked up at the boys again and saw they were all looking at her with concerned faces. Perhaps this boy was right. He introduced all of them, and she knew she would never remember all of those names for a long time. The boy himself was called Jack Kelly, or Cowboy._

_"__You're okay," Jack said to her gently, noticing she still had a rather terrified look on her face. "They didn't hurt ya. I didn't let 'em." Her eyes softened just a little bit at his gentle words. "What's your name?"_

_"…__Brenna," she said quietly. "Brenna Jennings."_

_"__It's nice to meet ya, Brenna."_

_For the first time in a long time, the girl smiled._

* * *

_After much time talking it over, the boys decided to let Brenna be a newsie with them. However, they knew they needed to keep this whole adventure a secret from Kloppman as they were afraid of how he'd react if he knew Jack had brought a girl to live with them. They knew that she would have to be disguised as a boy so she could at least get past Kloppman, plus Jack felt that being a girl newsie wouldn't end up working out well for anyone. Besides, those creeps were still out there, and it would not be good if they recognized her. Jack gave her an old cap to hide all of her hair in._

_"__Race, go get the roll of bandages, will ya?" Jack asked. Racetrack obediently went to the washroom where they kept a very small first aid kit and grabbed the bandages. With her clothes still on, Jack began rolling the bandages over top of her chest. Luckily, Brenna didn't have much chest to hide in the first place. But Jack was tying the bandages pretty tight. "Ow, I can barely breathe!" she exclaimed when he was finished._

_"__What do ya think, fellas?" Jack said as he took a step back to admire his work. "Think she can pass off as one of us?"_

_Small mutters of agreement circled the room. It was official. Brenna Jennings was a newsie._


	11. Escape Attempt

The rest of the newsies all met in Tibby's and waited for Denton to show. David was pretty quiet after hearing Brenna's story. It was probably a shock to hear what she had been through before becoming a newsie. However, she could tell that even though she told him all of that, he was still pretty peeved that Jack had lied to him the entire time he had known him.

It had been hard for Brenna to recount her story. She spent a lot of time trying to push those memories down, but she felt David deserved to know about her and why she hid the truth about her real identity from everyone.

Denton walked in the door with a smile, but it was apparent that it was a fake smile. Something was wrong. Denton greeted a few of the boys, while David cut straight to the chase.

"Why didn't the Sun print the story?"

"Because it never happened," Denton responded sadly.

This was met with a lot of very loud protests from all the boys in the restaurant.

"It's not in the papers, it never happened!" Denton said over their voices. "The owners decreed it not be in the papers, therefore…I came to tell you fellas good-bye."

"Wait a second," Brenna said bolting up from her seat. "Good-bye?"

"What happened?" David asked. "Did you get fired or something?"

"No, I got reassigned back to my old job as the Sun's ace war correspondent. They want me to leave right away. The owner thinks I should only cover the really important stories."

"Well, aren't we important?" Brenna asked, feeling more anger rise up inside her.

"Not in their eyes. Wish me luck fellas. At least half of what I wish for you." Denton started to leave, then turned back to David. "They don't always fire you." He walked over to the boy who angrily had his back to him. "I would be black-balled from every paper in the country. Hey." He forced David to turn around and look at him. "I'm a newspaper man. I have to have a paper to write for." He took a piece of paper out of his jacket. "This is the story I wrote about the rally. I want you to read it at least."

David made no move to take the paper, so Denton put it in his hand for him. He went over to the waiter and gave him a huge sum of money. "This should cover it."

David looked about ready to cry. He balled the paper up in his hand and threw it down on the table. Denton watched in sadness before leaving the restaurant.

Brenna looked at the newsies. She had never seen them so dejected before. Not even when Crutchy was taken to the Refuge. First Crutchy, then Jack, now Denton. Things just were not going according to plan.

"We get Jack out of the Refuge tonight," David announced. "From now on, we trust no one but the newsies!"

The other newsies stood up and voiced their agreements.

Brenna decided to leave the restaurant and head to Irving Hall. She quietly snuck in through the door and went up the stairs to Medda's dressing room.

"Medda?" she called. "Ya here?"

"Trickster, is that you?" Medda's voice answered. "Come on in!"

Brenna stepped into her familiar dressing room that was all decked out in pink and purple.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," Brenna said to the woman.

"I'm fine. How about you guys? I wanna know everything that happened."

Brenna sighed and explained how they had all been put on trial and were fined five dollars, but Denton paid the fee. Unfortunately, Jack was not so lucky and got taken away to the House of Refuge again. Then she told her how Denton had been demoted and was no longer working with them on the strike.

Medda took the young girl up in her arms. "Don't you worry, sweetie. Everything will work out."

"You know Jack isn't gonna stay there. He's either gonna break out or da newsies will break him out themselves."

"I know. I hate to think of that poor boy in such a horrid place."

"Medda, do you think we were wrong to start strikin'? I mean, ever since we decided to go on strike, we've made no money, Jack and Crutchy are in da Refuge, and now we have no leader or even an someone high up in da world like Denton to stand up for us."

"I don't think striking was a bad idea. I think Snyder and the policemen did not handle it well at all. They were abusing all of you boys so terribly last night. And I feel awful that I couldn't do anything for you."

"I feel like it's my fault Jack's in da Refuge right now. He told me to leave, but I didn't. Maybe if I had…"

"Trickster, listen to me. Jack Kelly is lucky to have a friend like you to watch out for him. There were way too many people and I think he would've gotten caught whether you had stayed or not. At least Jack was taken knowing that you were there for him."

Brenna smiled. Medda always knew exactly what to say to make her feel better. She stayed with the woman until night had fallen.

* * *

That night, David, Les, Mush, Blink, Racetrack, Boots, and Brenna all snuck through the gates of the Refuge. The boys had tried to get Brenna not to come, but she insisted that she owed it to Jack.

"That's the window where we saw Crutchy," David said, pointing to the window in front of them.

Before any of them could do anything, they watched as Jack was led out of the door by Snyder and a couple policemen and put into a carriage.

"It's Jack!" Les exclaimed quietly.

"Shh!" David shushed his brother.

"Where they takin' him, Dave?" Mush asked.

"Only one way to find out. I'll meet you guys at the square." He took Les and handed him to Racetrack. "Racetrack, watch him."

He took off after the carriage as the other boys watched. Brenna wasn't really sure what possessed her to do so, but she waited just a few seconds before running after him.

"Tricks!" she heard Racetrack yell in a whisper. "What are ya doin'?"

What _was_ she doing? Why didn't she just listen to David? Why was she putting herself in danger again?

Brenna saw that David had hopped onto the back of the carriage. All she could do was run after it and duck into the shadows when necessary.

The carriage finally stopped in front of an absolutely huge house. As she caught her breath, she watched as David crawled under the carriage and removed the pin that connected the horses to the carriage. She smiled at his cleverness. He crawled away and she went to meet him.

"David!" she whispered.

He jumped at the sound of his name, and when he saw it was her, he didn't look too happy. "What are you doing here? I told you I'd meet you in the square!"

"Don't ask me why I did it because I honestly don't have an answer!"

David sighed. "Well, here's the plan. When Jack gets out, we'll call for him and run as fast as we can."

"Dat's all ya got?"

"What, do you have something better?"

Brenna let out a small laugh. No, she didn't.

It really wasn't very long that he was in there, but the wait was painstakingly slow. Finally, the doors opened and Jack came out.

"Jack!" David yelled. "Come on! Come on!"

Jack slid down the railing on the stairs and jumped down, managing to escape Snyder's arms.

"After him!" Snyder yelled.

The driver of the carriage whipped the reins but thanks to David, the horses took off without the carriage.

The three of them kept running until Jack slowed down once they made it into an alley.

"Come on! Keep running!" David insisted.

"Ya shouldn't have done this, guys!" Jack yelled. "They could put you both in jail!"

"I don't care, and neither does Tricks!"

"Come here!" Jack roughly grabbed the both of them and put them against the wall. "What about your family?" he asked David. "What happens to them if you go in jail? You don't know nothin' about jail!"

"Jack…" Brenna said. "What happened in there? Normally, you'd be happy that we helped you escape."

"Tricks, you wouldn't last one night in jail, ya hear?!" he yelled. Jack had never yelled at her before. It was kind of scary. "I know you're tougher now and all, but with you bein' a girl, they'd gut ya before dinner! Now, thanks for what ya both done, but you get out of here."

"I don't understand," David said.

"I don't understand either, but just get outta here!" Jack yelled even louder, pushing the two of them away.

"No!" David yelled back.

"We can't leave without ya, Jack!" Brenna added.

"Go!"

David sighed and took Brenna's arm. "Come on, Tricks."

Together, they walked back to the square in silence. When they got back, all the boys anxiously approached them. Their faces quickly fell when they realized Jack was not with them.

"What happened?" Mush asked.

"Where's Jack?" Blink said.

Brenna looked down at the ground, unwilling to meet their eyes.

"He's not coming," David muttered.

"What?" Race nearly yelled. "Why not?"

"Somethin' happened," Brenna said. "He wouldn't tell us what, but I've never seen him so angry before."

"Ya mean…he yelled at ya?" The boys were in slight shock. Jack had been nothing but nice to Brenna since Day One. The thought of him yelling at her was something no one could picture.


	12. Betrayal

Brenna's chest had never been so sore. But the poor girl just didn't feel comfortable having one of the other boys take off and put on her bandages.

Most of the boys had been really quiet for the rest of the night after they heard of Jack's actions towards Brenna and David. Nevertheless, all of the newsies on strike gathered in front of the World Distribution Center to continue their protest.

"Stop the World! No more papes! Stop the World! No more papes!"

Their loud yells rang out all across the city as they held up signs and screamed over and over again. Policemen formed a barrier in front of the gates, ready to fend off the boys. The World carriage came through the gates, which resulted in a lot of the boys ceasing their protest shouts and start yelling at the other newsies.

"Race! Help me! I need some help!" David screamed over the complete and utter chaos.

"Alright! I ain't deaf!" Racetrack yelled back.

Brenna groaned and put her hands to her head. Without Jack to lead them, this just wasn't working. They needed a leader and right now, David was not cut out for it. Jack was the only one tough enough to get them all calmed down and ready for the strike.

"Hey, Race, come here," she heard Spot say.

"What?" Racetrack asked.

"Tell me I'm seein' things. Just tell me I'm seein' things."

Brenna turned around at his words. What she saw made her horrified, angry, and utterly confused all at once.

"No, you ain't seein' things. Dat's Jack. What's he doin'?" Race said, the anger in his voice rising up.

"He's dressed like a scabber!"

Brenna looked at her friend, escorted to the front by Weasel. He was wearing this absolutely hideous gray suit with a matching cap. It didn't suit him in any way whatsoever. His nickname was Cowboy for a reason. He needed to dress like one, and this was definitely not it.

"Jack?" Mush said, going up to the line of cops. They stopped him from going to the boy. "Jack, look at me, will ya? Come on, it's me, Mush. Look at me. What are ya doin', Jack?"

"This ain't happenin'. This can't be happenin'. What are ya doin', Jack? Come on, what are ya doin'?" Blink asked angrily.

Brenna certainly was just as confused and angry as they were. But she couldn't help but notice that he didn't look…well, like a scabber usually did. Brenna prided herself on being really good at reading people's emotions, and all she saw written on Jack's face was regret.

"Hey, what is this?" Boots screamed. "Where'd he get them clothes?"

"Mr. Pulitzer picked them out himself," Weasel said with a smug smile on his face. "A special gift to a special new employee."

"He sold us out!" Spot screamed.

"Look at him in his new suit! Ya bum! I'll soak ya! Ya fink!" Race yelled at him.

"Race," Brenna said in an effort to get him to calm down. She didn't know why Jack was doing this, but she had a feeling that it was not really his choice. If that did end up being the case, the last thing he needed was all these boys yelling at him.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Spot said. "Let me get my hands dirty. Come here, ya dirty rotten scabber!" Spot jumped on the policemen in an attempt to get over the barrier but failed.

"Spot, no!" Brenna cried.

As the newsies tried to pull Spot away from the cops, she felt a hand grasp hers. When she looked up, she realized it was David. He sent her a silent message through his eyes that she immediately understood. He pulled her over calmly to the police line and stood there.

"Aw, you wanna talk to him?" Weasel said to them. "Come on, come on. Sure. Go right ahead!"

Brenna saw that Jack was holding his head in his hand. If that wasn't a sign of regret, she didn't know what was. He looked absolutely miserable, no doubt the boys' comments really hitting him hard.

Brenna and David went up to Jack. He watched them approach and knew that this was not going to be a fun conversation. He was already mad at himself for doing this to all of his friends, but he knew that he was protecting them, even if they didn't see it like that.

"So, this is why you didn't escape last night!" David said angrily.

"Yeah," Jack answered quietly.

"You're a liar!"

"David!" Brenna said admonishingly.

"You lied about everything. You lied about your father being out west, 'cause he's not out west! You didn't even tell me your real name!"

"David, I told you…"

"So? What ya wanna do about it, Dave?" Jack said. His tone surprised her. He had never spoken that way to any of the newsies before the entire time she had known him. Maybe he wasn't as full of regret as she thought.

"I don't understand you."

"Oh, so let me spell it out for ya."

"Jack!"

"Ya see, I ain't got nobody tuckin' me in at night, like you."

"Oh, and I suppose I did?" Brenna asked angrily. Anger was beginning to rise up inside her at the way Jack was talking to them. She tried to think about how he had looked so full of regret, but the images were quickly being clouded over.

"Ya used to!" he responded. "Ya had a mudder and fadder to care for ya."

"I haven't had a mother or father to care for me since I was eleven years old. Just so you know, that was six years ago!"

"I haven't had anyone to care for me since I was seven. Dat's ten years ago! So, with me, it's just me. I gotta look out for myself."

"You had the newsies!" David insisted.

"Oh, what'd being a newsie ever give me but a dime a day and a few black eyes?"

"You don't mean that," Brenna said.

Of course he didn't. But he had to keep them away. He had to keep them safe from Pulitzer. "Yeah, I do," he lied. "Ya know, I can't afford to be a kid no more. For da first time in my life, I got money in my pockets. Real money. Money, you understand?"

"What did that ever matter to you?!"

"It always has! I got more on the way and as soon as I collect, I'm gone, I'm away. Alright?"

"What?" Sure Brenna had known that he wanted nothing more than to get to Santa Fe, and she had encouraged it. But now that there was actually a possibility of him leaving, she didn't think she could bear it, even if he was allegedly betraying them. Despite the circumstances, Jack was a huge part of her life and she didn't think she could just let him go so easily.

"Well, that's good!" David screamed. "That's good because we don't need you! We don't need you! 'Cause all those words you said, those were mine."

"Yeah, but you never had da guts to put them across yourself, didja?"

"Jack!" Brenna said again. She couldn't handle the way he was talking to them much longer. It was up to her to get the facts out of him.

"I do now," David answered. Well, he had certainly gotten over his shyness. There was still hope for him to become a real newsie and a good strike leader. He started to walk away, but Brenna stayed.

"Jack, what's really going on with you?" she asked him. "This…isn't you."

Jack knew what he had to do, and he hated himself for it. He tried to tell himself that what he was about to do was for Brenna's safety. He really cared about the girl, and the thought of her trying to make it in jail with a ton of men who wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of her sickened him. He had to push her away. And there was only one way he could do that.

"I'll tell it to ya straight, Tricks," Jack said angrily. "I have to get away. From everyone. Especially from you." Brenna felt her heart break right into two pieces. Where was this coming from? She and Jack had always gotten along and were really good friends. Right? "Do ya know how hard it's been on me these last few years tryin' to put up with ya?"

"Jack…" Brenna said speechless. "I'm sorry. I didn't think that…"

"No, ya didn't think! Because ya never think of anyone but yourself!"

"No, that's not true!"

"Yes, it is. Look, I'm tired of havin' to help ya get ready every mornin', I'm tired of havin' to keep your secret, I'm tired of havin' to protect ya all da time, and I'm just plain tired of you!"

Jack watched as her eyes misted over with tears at his hurtful words. He had never felt so terrible in his life.

"Jack…" Brenna said, her voice cracking.

He had to say it. He had to keep her safe. "Ya know what? I wish I had never saved you dat day on da street!"

Brenna gasped at his words. Her mouth was open in shock. She felt like she had just been punched in the stomach several times over. She slowly backed away from him, unable to stand in front of him any longer. Her eyes filled with tears as she walked through the crowd of newsies, numb to everything else around her, even all the angry shouts that echoed behind her. She slowly walked further and further away from them. She then found herself in alley. That's where she broke down into violent sobs on the ground. Tears spilled down her cheeks at an alarming rate.

After she managed to stop gasping for breath from her crying, she found herself singing softly:

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_I'll be the one, if you want me to_

_Anywhere I would've followed you_

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

Tears continued to fall down her cheeks as she sang. She took off her cap to let her hair down. Right now, she wanted to be herself, and no one paid attention to her in the alley anyway. She wanted to go to Jack. She wanted to know why he said those terrible words to her. At the same time, she didn't want anything to do with him. His words replayed over and over again in her mind. She would've gone with him all the way to Santa Fe if he had allowed her to come. She shared a bond with him that could not be broken. At least, she thought it couldn't.

_And I am feeling so small_

_It was over my head_

_I know nothing at all_

_And I will stumble and fall_

_I'm still learning to love_

_Just starting to crawl_

She had never felt so hurt in a very long time. She knew that she would make mistakes, but Jack was always there to help her out. He was always there for her. Was.

_And I will swallow my pride_

_You're the one that I lost_

_And I'm saying goodbye_

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_And I'm sorry I wasn't enough for you_

_And anywhere I would've followed you_

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_Say something_

Brenna stayed out there in the alley for hours on end. Then her thoughts were interrupted by someone's voice behind her.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She whipped around to find that Denton was the owner of the voice.

"Trickster?" he said in surprise.

Brenna sighed. Now he knew her secret too. She was not in the mood for this. "Yeah," she sniffed. "Now you know the big secret. I'm actually a girl." She furiously wiped tears from her red cheeks. "But why I'm upset is none of your business."

She pushed past him, but he called after her, "Why isn't it my business?"

Brenna furiously whipped around. "Because if you had just been there with us, defending us, then you would know."

She walked off before he could say anything else to her. She tucked her hair into her hat as she walked back to the Lodging House in order to get past Kloppman. After all, she had a feeling most of the newsies had returned early from striking.

Sure enough, when she headed back in, all of the Manhattan newsies had crowded into the bed area, some of them plotting on how to kill Jack. But she knew that they were just working out their anger. She was oblivious to the stares she got from her fellow strikers. She just went to her bed and sat down on it.

Brenna sat on the bed until the sun went down, twisting her cap in her hands until it had wrinkled considerably.

She felt a lone tear travel down her right cheek as she heard Jack's words once more.

Racetrack went over to her and sat down next to her. "Heya, Tricks," he said with nothing but compassion in his voice.

Brenna wiped her eyes again. "I'm sorry. I am blowing my cover. Newsies…newsies don't cry. After all this time keeping my secret well hidden, I am not going to let it out now. I'm sorry. I'll pull it together, I promise. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

Racetrack put his hand on her. "Ya don't have to apologize, Tricks. Look, ya may be a newsie, but you're still a girl. And girls is just more emotional than boys, we get dat. Especially when dat girl is smitten. Even more so when da one she's smitten with is Jack Kelly."

Brenna looked at him. She had never actually considered the idea that she was in love with Jack. But now that he said that, it all made sense. It made sense why she felt weird inside when she saw Sarah look at him longingly and when Jack said she fed him breakfast and when he sang directly to her at the rally, why she was always so happy when he was around, and why his words had hurt her so much more than she thought they would.

"He really hurt ya today, didn't he?"

Brenna felt more tears form in her eyes as she slowly nodded. "Yeah. It hurt. A lot." Against her will, she held her head in her hands and began to sob again. Every single one of the boys in the Lodging House came over to her and put their hands on her. She could hear them telling her that it was going to be okay and that they were all there for her. Brenna loved these boys now more than ever.

When she had finally calmed down and the boys started getting ready for sleep, Brenna went up to Racetrack.

"Hey, Race?" she said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Could you…help me?"

Racetrack realized that since Jack hadn't been at the Lodging House for three nights, no one had been there to help Brenna get her bandages off. "Of course."

The two of them went to the washroom and got into the stalls. It was awkward for both of them, but not as awkward as they thought it would be. For the first time, someone other than Jack was helping her take her bandages off. And as soon as they were off, and Racetrack left her to finish dressing, she took a lot of deep breaths. Her chest hurt a lot from being bound so tightly for so long. She threw her shirt back on and waited for all the boys to fall asleep.

Then, she snuck out of the Lodging House and headed to where she knew they were putting Jack for the night.

As she walked to the Distribution Center, she felt herself getting angrier and angrier with each step. She began to sing again:

_I need an answer_

_Some way to understand_

_This feels so convincing_

_And a little outta hand_

_So tell me one thing_

_Who gave you all those scars_

_That took away your innocence_

_You push away with everything you are_

Brenna had to understand why Jack did what he did and said what he said. Who convinced him to do that? Why did he push everyone away today?

_I can't take this anymore_

_I'm tired of breaking_

_I'm tired of breaking_

Her eyes were stinging from all the tears that had spilled out over the course of the day. She was done with the tears for now. Now all she wanted was answers.

_I want the world to see_

_You sold a broken dream_

_You were not there for me_

_I was unraveling_

_All that we never knew_

_That could have been me and you_

_But you took everything_

_Now we're just here unraveling_

He had betrayed her and hurt her deeper than she had ever felt. There had been so much that they could've done. They could've gotten out of New York together and formed the relationship she had subconsciously always been wanting. Her relationship with him was crumbling by the second. Both of them were falling apart slowly but surely.

_So here we are now_

_Break what's already broken_

_I guess I coulda seen this coming_

_If you'd been around_

_Let's tear the past wide open_

Brenna began to do a fierce dance in the empty streets of New York as she sang at the top of her lungs. She was angry at Jack. She had never felt so angry before. Her dance became wilder with sharper movements as she continued with her song.

_What have we become?_

_The hopeless tonight and I think it's over_

_We hope to find the truth still breathing_

_Can we survive the low?_

Could they get out of this? Was this whole situation going to be reparable? Hopefully, after she went to go see him, she could begin to undo what Jack had completely destroyed today.

Brenna continued to hop over several objects and continued her dance. With each dance move she did, she could feel some of her anger leaking out of her, preparing her for the conversation she was about to have.

When she finally finished her song, she took some heaving breaths, the sheer exertion from her wild dance taking its toll on her body.

She found herself in front of the Distribution Center. It was now or never.

* * *

**Phew...okay, so lots of drama in this chapter! I actually use that scene with Jack and Brenna to practice my fake-crying (yes, I'm an actress). I've gotten pretty darn good at it...**

**Some of you may have noticed that Brenna suddenly dropped her New York accent. I did that for a reason. You know how David doesn't have a thick New York accent like the others because he was raised by a family who didn't have that thick accent? Well, I imagined that Brenna lived like that for a while with her own family. When she became a newsie, over time, she picked up that thick New York accent. However, when she's angry and upset, she kind of just "forgets" to use it. So when Jack is basically killing her with his words, she's so angry and hurt that her accent disappears.  
**

**The song Brenna sings after Jack hurts her is "Say Something" by A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera (Yes, I did change a couple of the lyrics to better suit the situation). The song she sings on the way to the Distribution Center is "Unraveling" by Sevendust.  
**


	13. Confessions

Jack sat down on the creaky wooden bed in the basement of the Distribution Center. He held his head in his hands as he thought back over what he had done. He was feeling less and less sure about his decision to do all of this. He hated himself for what he said to Brenna. Perhaps he shouldn't have gone as far as he had. He hadn't meant a word he had said to her or David. But he couldn't risk Pulitzer taking them all away.

"Jack?" he heard. He looked up and saw a familiar face walking down the stairs.

"Tricks?" She was holding her cap in her hands with her brown hair down around her shoulders. "How da heck did ya get down here? How'd ya avoid da guys upstairs?"

She looked at him. "I may be a newsie, but I'm still a girl," she told him, echoing Racetrack's earlier words to her. "You'd be surprised what a few undone buttons and a couple of flirty eyes will get you." She shuddered as she thought of how she had had to speak to those creeps in order to get down here. Luckily, they were so taken with her, they didn't ask why she was in boy clothes. She slowly walked over to the Jack.

He realized that she had taken her bandages off. The thought of one of the other boys seeing her bare back made him a lot angrier than he thought it would. There was a reason only Jack was allowed to help her and that was because he wanted to keep the poor girl away from as many prying eyes as possible. It was already bad enough she had to get dressed in front of thirty boys and vice versa. But after what he had said to her, it was no wonder why she got someone else to help her.

He looked up at her and felt his heart break as he noticed her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were red and puffy. "Have you been cryin'?" he asked quietly.

Her silence gave him his unwanted answer.

"What are ya doin' here?"

"I wanna know what's really going on. I know you better than anyone and that means I know that you would never do this without a good reason. So spill."

Jack sighed. "There's no 'good reason', Tricks."

Brenna pulled her hand back and slapped him hard on the face. "That's for lying to me just now!" After a small pause, she slapped him again even harder. "That's for what you said to me this morning!" He refused to meet her eyes and knew he deserved those slaps. "How could you say that to me?" she asked quieter. "You know that I feel guilty every day for making those boys hide such a big secret. And if I bothered you so much, why didn't you just say something? But do you really wish you had let those boys finish what they were going to do to me?"

"Of course not. I was just sayin' what I had to say."

"What do you mean you were just saying what you had to say? The truth, please!"

Jack stood up angrily. "Because Pulitzer said he was goin' to take all da boys, including you, and put 'em in jail if I didn't step down! He said dat he wouldn't hesitate to lock 'em up for da rest of their lives."

Brenna looked at him. "He threatened you?"

Jack sighed and nodded.

"Well, Jack, you've gotta tell someone!"

"Who am I supposed to tell? Who is goin' to listen to a newsie?"

"Then tell the boys in the Lodging House."

"No, they can't know."

"Well, at least let me tell David. He deserves to know."

"No! Listen to me, Tricks. They can't know about all this. If they do, Pulitzer will be on 'em faster than ya can think. Swear to me ya won't tell!"

"Okay, okay, I won't tell them. But…you should. Jack, most of them pretty much want to kill you right now. But maybe if you tell them why you did such a terrible thing, then maybe we can fix this whole mess."

Jack remained silent. He wanted nothing more than to throw these ugly and uncomfortable clothes off and get back his cowboy gear and go running back to the boys to beg for their forgiveness. But he had to do this. For them.

"Look, whenever you decide, I'll be there waiting for you. I can't say how the other boys will be, but I'll be there. Because we're newsies, and newsies stick together."

She headed back up the stairs after shoving her hair back in her cap. She didn't exactly know why she did that because since she didn't have her bandages on, it would be tougher to hide that she was a girl. Hopefully, the streets would still be empty and if worse came to worse, she could just throw her arms over her chest and keep her head down.

"Hey, Tricks," Jack called after her. "I really am sorry…for everything I said. I was just tryin' to protect ya and to do dat, I needed to push ya away."

"Jack…next time you want to protect me, don't you dare push me away."

* * *

"Do ya need help again, Tricks?" Racetrack asked her in the morning.

She nodded and they proceeded to go to the stall.

"So, where did ya go last night?" he asked her.

"Excuse me?"

"Saw ya sneak out. Where'd ya go?"

"It doesn't matter," she mumbled. "It didn't help." After a pause, she asked, "Was it really that obvious that I like Jack?"

"Are ya kiddin'? Cowboy likes you just as much! We've been waitin' for you two to get together for a year and a half! Although…dat don't look like it's gonna happen now…"

Brenna chose not to respond, but she wanted nothing more than to tell him where she had really gone last night.

The newsies were in terrible moods from Jack's betrayal. A lot of them were about to ready to hunt him down and make him suffer after seeing Brenna in such an awful state the day before. Unfortunately, she had promised Jack she wouldn't say anything, but the secret was eating her alive. She wanted the boys to understand that while it seemed like Jack had betrayed them, he was really protecting them.

She left to get some air and get away from the horrid aura going around the room. As she walked on the streets of New York, she thought about everything Jack had said to her the night before.

There was no denying it. She was in love with Jack Kelly.

Suddenly, a loud commotion occurred across the street from her. She looked over and saw the Delancey brothers taunting Sarah and Les. Her insides boiled at the sight of them. They grabbed Sarah and flung Les onto the street.

While Brenna may have disliked Sarah because of her affections towards Jack, that didn't mean that she would let this slide. She ran over to the alley just as David went up to the brothers. He charged Oscar and tried to hurt him, but Oscar got the upper hand since David didn't have much experience in fighting.

Brenna tried to deal with Morris but he was a lot bigger than her and she only knew so many fighting techniques. She attempted to at least injure him a little, but he was fast. He striked her as hard as could on the cheek and she got sent to the ground.

"Wait a minute…" Morris said, the sound of the ensuing fight between David and Oscar almost drowning him out. "I know that face." Before she could do anything, his hand went to her head and whipped her cap off. "Those eyes are hard to forget," he sneered.

Brenna saw Les and Sarah's eyes widen at the realization that Brenna was actually a female.

"My cousin is in jail because of you and Kelly. We was just tryin' to have a little fun with ya!"

Brenna's eyes widened as she realized what he meant. He had been the man to hold her down while apparently his cousin attempted to harass her. The memory crashed down on her all at once and she became numb.

"She's the tramp who put Myles in jail?" Oscar said, pausing his fighting with David. Morris smirked at her and quickly overpowered her. He held her hands down as he leaned over her and placed kisses over her neck and cheeks. Brenna began screaming like never before.

* * *

As Jack walked down the street, attempting to sell his papers and get through this situation he had been forced into, all thoughts were on his fellow newsies, specifically Brenna. He was kind of glad that she had come to see him so he could explain himself at least to her. She deserved more than anyone to know why he did what he did. After all, he had hurt her the most with his awful words.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone screaming. And not just any someone. It was Brenna. He looked over in the alley and saw Oscar beating David senseless while Sarah held Les close to her in the corner. But what made him angrier than ever was seeing Morris on top of her, kissing her and fondling her legs and shoulders as she screamed. Her cap was off which meant that everyone in the alley now knew her secret. He didn't have time to worry about that. The scene before him was just like when he had found her. Only this time, it was much, much more personal.

Jack dropped all of his papers on the ground and ran over to them. He plowed straight into Morris, knocking him away from Brenna. She gasped heavily at the sight of him. While she was relieved he had helped her, she hated herself for being so vulnerable and weak. She felt her body shake in anger as she stood up, watching Jack punch Morris in the face and gut over and over again.

"Don't you dare touch her ever again!" he screamed.

"Jack!" Brenna cried. "That's enough!" She pulled him away from the boy and they met eyes. "From you." Brenna went over to Morris and grabbed his shirt in her hands. "Remember that scared little girl you and your stupid cousin tried to hurt?" she growled at him. "Well, that was over two years ago. No more Miss Nice Girl." Brenna wound her fist back and delivered the hardest punch she had ever given to someone in her entire life. It left an instant bruise on his eye. She pulled her fist back again and delivered another blow to his cheek, hearing a crunch ring out.

Jack grabbed Oscar. "Remember Crutchy?" He head-butted the boy hard and let him sink to the ground. Then he went over to Brenna and enveloped her in a huge hug. He didn't let go of her for a while, and Brenna didn't really mind. "Are you alright, Tricks?" he asked, finally releasing her. "I am so sorry I let this happen. It's my fault."

"I'm fine, Jack. I got to pay him back for what he did to me all those years ago. And it felt good."

Oscar and Morris got back up. "You'd better run, Cowboy," Morris threatened, holding his cheek in pain. "We're gonna tell Uncle Weas! You'll be back in the Refuge before suppertime!"

Brenna took a lunging step toward him, and he backed up and fell over a crate. Oscar helped him up and the two boys took off.

"What? You couldn't stay away?" David asked, disdain in his voice.

"Well, I guess I can't be somethin' I ain't," Jack replied.

"A scab?"

"No, smart."

"So," Sarah stated. "Trickster is actually a girl?"

Brenna smiled at her. "Yeah, I am. I've been hidin' it pretty good too up until a few days ago. Now someone seems to find out every day. And ya know…I think I'm okay with it."

There was a bit of silence before Sarah exclaimed, "Oh! I have something to show you two!" She took a piece of paper out of her dress pocket and unfolded it before giving it to Jack. "It's the story Denton wrote about the strike that couldn't get printed."

As Jack and Brenna read the story, neither could believe what they were reading.

"We gotta go," Jack said.

"Hold up, Cowboy," Brenna laughed pulling him back. "First things first. We gotta get ya outta those clothes."


	14. Once and For All

**One more chapter to go :D**

* * *

That night, the group found themselves knocking on Denton's apartment door. David was still a little sour about everything that had happened with Jack and Denton, but he was slowly getting over it.

"Jack…" Brenna said quietly. "Uh, there's somethin' I have to tell ya. Denton knows my secret."

"What?" Jack exclaimed rounding on her. "When? How?"

"I was…somewhere I thought no one could see me, so I took my cap off and he found me."

"Why didn't ya tell me about this earlier?"

While Jack was speaking, Denton's door swung open and he smiled at the sight of Sarah, David, Les, Jack, and Brenna standing in front of him and the fact that he caught Jack mid-sentence.

Jack turned to Denton and chose to ignore what Brenna had told him for the time being. "Did ya mean what ya wrote here?" he asked, holding up his article. "'Bout all these sweat shop kids listenin' to me?"

"I don't write anything I don't mean," Denton smiled. "Come on in. I'm just packing a few things."

They all walked into Denton's apartment, and it was evident he was getting ready to leave for his next story for the paper. No one missed the hard look David gave the man as he shut the door.

"So, yes, I mean it," Denton explained. "The city thrives on child labor. A lot of people make money that way. They're terrified that the newsies strike will spread."

"Well, there's really not much chance of dat as long as they got da power," Jack said.

"Sometimes, all it takes is a voice, one voice. Then a thousand. Unless it's silenced."

"Why can't we spread da strike? Have another big rally and get da word out to all da sweat shop kids? Why not?"

"The last rally didn't go too well, Jack," Brenna said to him. "Look at everythin' dat happened since then."

"Well this time, we'll get even more people and make da whole thing even bigger. I ain't gonna make da same mistakes twice."

"What are we going to do? Print an ad in the newspaper?" David asked.

"No! We'll do better than dat! We'll make our own paper. We tell 'em they gotta join us. Isn't dat a good idea?" Jack said.

"Yeah, it is," David admitted. "But what do we know about printing a newspaper?"

"Nothing. But our man Denton…"

"Yeah, but our man Denton has something more important to do. He's going to be an ace war correspondent, right Denton?"

Brenna was about to reprimand him for being so rude, until she saw the smile on both of the boys' faces.

"Alright," Denton agreed. "Where do we start?"

Everyone took a seat at the table. "Alright, we gotta move fast," Jack said. "Now, we'll need da newsies to circulate."

"There's something else that we need. We need a printing press."

"Just so happens I know a guy with a printing press." He looked over at Brenna with a glimmer in his eye. She smiled back at him. She knew exactly what he was getting at.

Sure enough, Jack led them all to the basement of the World Distribution Center where Jack and Brenna had had their little heart-to-heart the night before.

"You've been living here?" Sarah asked.

"Shh," Jack and Brenna shushed. "They're right above us. Weasel catches us here, we're all in da slammer."

Jack uncovered a small printing machine and Denton gasped. "Alright!" he whispered. "A Platen press. Looks like old man Pulitzer never threw anything away."

"Is it going to work?" David asked.

"It better. We have a deadline."

They worked in the basement all night and Denton showed them how to use the printing press to create a newspaper that got the word out about the newsies strike and also exposed Snyder and the corruption that went on in the House of Refuge.

Sarah smiled and leaned her head on Jack's shoulder as she watched him work. There was that funny feeling inside Brenna's stomach again. Unfortunately, she now had a name for that funny feeling. Jealousy. She tried not to think too much about it and continued helping David and Denton work the press.

"Hey, Tricks!" Jack called as the sun began to rise in the sky.

Brenna walked over to him. "Whaddya need?"

"Go get da boys in da Lodging House and tell 'em to come here." He showed her a small door where they could pass out their papers to the newsies in complete secrecy. "We got papes to sell."

Brenna smiled and ran back to the Lodging House as fast as she could. She saw Kloppman heading for the stairs to get the boys up, but she stopped the man. Pulling her cap down further over her eyes, she said to him, "Hey, I'll wake up da boys this mornin', Kloppman."

He gave her a suspicious look, but allowed her to take over. She bolted up the stairs and slammed the door to the boys' room open.

"Guys, get up now!" she yelled.

This was met by moans and groans from all over the room. But there was no time for their usual routine of taking forever to get ready. She grabbed a pillow out from under Boots, and proceeded to walk by each bed, hitting all the boys with the pillow.

"This is not a joke! Ya need to get up right now!"

"Is da place on fire?" Racetrack asked drowsily. "No? Then it ain't worth my time."

Brenna went over to him and pushed him out of his bed and he fell to the floor with a shout. "This is about Jack!"

All the boys immediately silenced and looked at her, the anger evident in their eyes.

"He needs our help!"

"Why would we want to help a scabber?" Blink asked. "He's a traitor."

Brenna gave him such a fierce glare, no one could look directly at her. "No, he's not."

"What are ya talkin' about, Tricks?" Racetrack asked. "Ya saw him. Ya heard what he said. We all did. Whatever he needs, he can get it without us."

The other boys mumbled their agreements.

"He only did all those things to protect us!" Brenna screamed.

"What do ya mean?" Skittery asked her.

Brenna lowered her voice, having finally got their attention. "When David and I followed Jack in da carriage, he was taken to Pulitzer's house. Pulitzer threatened to throw all of us in jail, not da Refuge but jail, if Jack didn't step down from da strike. He promised to hurt every single one of us. Jack was only doing what he thought he had to in order to keep all of us safe."

Silence enveloped the room once again.

"But he came around when…when Morris attacked me. Turns out he and his cousin are da ones who tried to hurt me when Jack first found me."

All the boys ran over to her, checking to make sure the poor girl was alright.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she insisted. "Trust me, da broken bone in his cheek will tell ya that. Jack stopped him and Oscar from hurting me and David. Then we all went to Denton's house to ask for his help again. We've spent all night making our own newspaper to give to everyone, telling all about da newsies strike…and what goes on in da Refuge."

The boys' eyes got brighter and brighter with each part of the story she told. Brenna smiled.

"Now all we need are some newsies to start distributin'. So whaddya say?"

There was a painstaking silence as all the boys looked at each other trying to come to a decision.

"Carryin' da banner!" Racetrack finally yelled, pumping his fist in the air.

"Carryin' da banner!" all the newsies shouted in reply. They bounded down the steps and rushed to the Distribution Center. Brenna showed them the secret door and each boy picked up their papers and began handing them out to every person they could find.

_This is for kids shining shoes on the streets_

_With no shoes on their feet everyday_

_This is for guys sweating blood in da shops_

_While their bosses and cops look away_

_This is to even da score_

_We ain't just newsies no more_

_This ain't just kids with some pie in da sky_

_This is do it or die_

_This is war!_

_Once and for all_

_We'll be there to defend one another_

_Once and for all_

_Every kid is a friend_

_Every friend a brother_

_Five thousand fists in da sky_

_Five thousand reasons to try_

_We're going over da wall_

_Better to die than to crawl_

_Either we stand or we fall_

_For once_

_Once and for all!_


	15. Finally

**Well, here it is...the final chapter of this fanfiction. Special thanks to theater104 for reviewing nearly every chapter and to all you lovely readers who stayed to the end :D Newsies forever!**

* * *

After spending hours on end distributing as many of their papers as possible, all the Manhattan newsies gathered in front of the Horace Greeley statue. To their disappointment, it was just the Manhattan newsies. No one else.

"So, when's da others comin', kid?" Mush asked.

"They ain't comin'," Jack said dejectedly. "Ain't gonna be nobody but us."

Brenna went up to Jack and took his hand in hers. "You don't know dat. After all da work we put in, I find it hard to believe dat no one in New York is going to help us. Just…have faith."

Jack smiled at her and threw his arm around her shoulders, and this time, she didn't push him away.

_"__When the circulation bell starts ringing, will we hear it?"_ Les sang.

"Nah," Racetrack answered. _"What if da Delancey's come out swingin', will we hear it?"_

"No!"

"Atta boy!"

The newsies gathered together in a tight group. Suddenly, there was the sound of cheering and loud singing.

Brenna looked over. "Jack…" she gasped.

_When you've got a million voices singin'_

_Who can hear a lousy whistle blow?_

_And da World will know!_

Hundreds and hundreds of working kids swarmed the streets of New York. Brenna squealed and flung her arms around Jack in happiness. The look Sarah gave her did not go unnoticed.

Brenna noticed a familiar face leading another group of newsies at the front of the crowd. She had never been so happy to see the Brooklyn leader in her entire life. She fought her way over to him and gave him a smirk.

"Just couldn't stay away, could ya?" she smiled.

"Spot Conlon never backs down from a challenge."

She punched him playfully on the shoulder, an act he returned. Jack joined them and spit-shook with Spot. Then the rest of the newsies, including Sarah, fought their way to the front of the crowd, who were all yelling "Strike!" over and over again.

"Deah me!" Racetrack screamed over the commotion. "What have we here?"

They looked to the World Building and saw one of Pulitzer's men and several police officers standing at the door.

"I think they're looking for the leader!" David yelled.

"Well, dat's us!" Jack yelled back. "Let's go!" Jack grabbed Brenna's hand and she was surprised that he was taking her with him to talk to Pulitzer.

"Why am I here?" Brenna asked him once they were inside the building.

"Because if you can talk to Spot and get him to help us, ya most certainly can help us with this guy."

They were escorted up to Pulitzer's office, and Brenna felt a rush of anger flow through her at the sight of him. The one who had caused Jack to hurt all of them.

Jack pulled a copy of their newspaper out of his shirt pocket and put it on the man's desk.

"Extry, extry, Joe. Read all about it," he said smoothly.

Pulitzer put his hands on his desk. "I promised that if you defied me, I'd break you," he said. "I'll keep that promise, boy."

Brenna stepped up next to Jack. "We'll all die before you ever hurt him again," she said strongly. "You can only do so much, Pulitzer. Us newsies know how to work around threats like yours. We do it on a daily basis. But you don't care about dat, do ya?"

"I gave you a chance to be free," he said to Jack, ignoring Brenna's words. "I don't understand. Anyone who doesn't act in their own self-interest is a fool."

"Then what does that make you?" David asked.

"What?"

"Oh, this is our pal, Davey," Jack introduced as David stepped next to the two of them. "Da walkin' mouth."

"You talk about self-interest, but since the strike, your circulation's been down 70%. Everyday you're losing thousands of dollars just to beat us out of one lousy tenth of a cent. Why?"

"Ya see, it ain't about da money, Dave. If Joe gives in to nobodies like us, it means we got da power. And he can't do dat, no matter what it costs. Am I right, Joe?"

"I sent for the police," Pulitzer said. "They must be here by now. Send them in, Seitz."

Brenna watched the old man only take a small half-step, making no move to actually go retrieve the police. When he met eyes with Brenna, he winked at her and smiled.

"I'm not goin' back to jail, Joe," Jack said firmly. "Look out here. Right out here is where da power is!" Jack opened the window and a cacophony of voices rang out so loud, it hurt Brenna's ears. But it was a good pain.

"Close the window!" Pulitzer shouted. "Close the window!" He stepped out onto his balcony. "Go home! Go home! Go home!"

"I can't hear ya, Joe!" Jack yelled.

"Go home! Go home to your mothers and fathers! Go home!"

"I don't hear ya!"

Pulitzer covered his ears with his fingers and scurried back inside. "Now you listen to me!"

"Maybe you should listen!"

"No, no! You listen to me!"

"No, you listen!"

"Shut the window and shut up!" He crashed down into his seat, still holding his ears.

"There's a lot of people out there and they ain't just gonna go away. They got voices now and they're gonna be listened to. Putting me, or Davey, or even Trickster here in jail is not goin' to stop 'em! Dat's da power of da press, Joe!" He went to the window and closed it, silencing the shouts. "So thanks for teaching me about it."

"Those kids put out a pretty good paper there, Chief," Seitz said.

Pulitzer picked up the paper from his desk and read over it. "I ordered a printing ban on all strike matters. Now, who defied it? Whose press did you use to print this on? Whose? Whose?"

"Well, we only used da best, Joe. So, we just want to say…thanks again."

Brenna went up to his desk and leaned on it. "As my good friend, Racetrack, an avid poker play, would say, da cards are in your hands now. Your turn. So whaddya have to say for yourself? Do ya fold?"

* * *

Seitz opened the gates to the Distribution Center and David, Jack, and Brenna all came out. The newsies swarmed them asking them a million questions all at once. Jack leaned over to Les and whispered something in his ear before putting him up on his shoulders. Then he grabbed Brenna's hand and looked over at her. She smiled at him, not seeing that happiness in his eyes in a really long time.

He threw their hands up into the air, and they screamed together, "WE BEAT 'EM!"

If the cheers had been loud before, they increased tenfold. Everyone hugged and jumped on each other, elated.

Weasel walked through the crowd, having been fired from his job at the Center. Oscar was behind him and then Morris.

"Hey, Morris!" Brenna said, stopping him. His cheek had a massive bruise and he had a very dark black eye. He looked over at her and cautiously put his hands in front of him. "How's da eye? Ya know…I think ya should match."

Before Morris could do anything, she nailed him in the other eye giving him an additional black eye. He looked hilarious as he blindly tried to scurry away from her.

"Dat'll teach ya to ever mess with me again!" she called after him.

A wagon pulled up with two policemen…and Snyder sitting in the front. Seriously? Why did he have to come to every good thing that happened?

"Jack!" Les cried. "Jack, it's the Bulls. It's the Bulls. Let me down!"

Jack quickly put him on the ground. Brenna grabbed his hand and the boys tried to help them get away, but Denton stopped him.

"Jack, it's over." They tried to run away before Snyder caught them, but Denton grabbed him before he could do so. "No, no. You don't have to run. Not anymore. Not from the likes of him. Come on, Come on."

Jack and Brenna reluctantly went over to the wagon and watched as all the boys from the Refuge climbed out of the back. The last one to exit was Crutchy.

Brenna's eyes brightened up considerably as she realized what was going on. Snyder was in handcuffs and was being taken away to jail! Their story had worked!

"Ah, remember what I told ya, Mr. Snyder," Crutchy said to the man as he was about to be put in the wagon. "The first thing ya do in jail, make friends with da rats. Share what ya got in common!" Snyder got in the back of the wagon and a cop prepared to close the door. "Officer, may I please?" Crutchy asked.

"Sure kid!" the police officer answered.

Crutchy slammed the door in Snyder's face as hard as he could and locked it.

Brenna couldn't hold it in anymore. "Crutchy!" she screamed. She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, not caring if a boy was supposed to do that or not. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Heya, Tricks! Good to see ya again!"

The two of them went back over to the boys.

"You won't be seeing much of him anymore," Denton said. "Say goodbye Warden!"

"Goodbye, Warden!" all the newsies shouted in chorus as the wagon pulled away.

"Oh, Jack, you oughta seen it!" Crutchy said excitedly. "He comes stormin' into da Refuge wavin' his walking stick like a sword and he's leadin' in this army of lawyers and cops—"

"Who comes stormin' in?" Jack asked.

"Ya know, your friend. Him! Teddy Roosevelt!"

The newsies looked over to find the governor, Theodore Roosevelt, in a carriage of his own, happily greeting the workers.

"The Governor's very grateful that you brought this problem to his attention," Denton said. "I said you might need a lift somewhere. He'd be happy to oblige. Anywhere you want. And this time, you ride inside."

"So, can he drop me at da train yards?"

Brenna looked at him. He was doing it. He was going to Santa Fe just like he always wanted. But it was too soon. She wasn't ready for him to just up and leave.

No. It was his choice.

"Yeah, if that's what you want."

Denton led Jack and some others boys over to the carriage. Roosevelt shook Jack's hand warmly.

Jack looked at Brenna. "Well, this is it. I'm finally livin' my dream."

She nodded at him and tried to force a smile.

"And you're comin' with me…Brenna."

Brenna looked at him in surprise. That was the first time he had ever called her by her real name since she had first met him. He roughly pulled her towards him and crashed his lips onto hers. Her eyes widened in shock, but then she melted into the kiss with him. The crowd around them quieted significantly. When Jack released her, she looked at him for a few seconds, and then for the first time in public, Brenna took her cap off her head and let her hair fall down around her shoulders. The crowd cheered loudly as she revealed who she really was to practically the whole city. But she didn't care anymore. She was done hiding. She was ready to finally listen to the words in the song she had sung in the middle of the rain and truly let it go. She threw her cap up into the air and a lot of other caps followed suit. Brenna laughed as she caught her cap and then she and Jack climbed into Roosevelt's carriage. She couldn't believe Jack had invited her to come along. And she was not going to question it. They waved to the other boys and rode away.

"So, you are Jack Kelly?" Roosevelt asked Jack as they traveled on.

"Yes, sir."

"And who is your friend?"

"This is Trickster. Brenna."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Brenna said.

"I'm taking you to the train yards, yes?" Roosevelt asked.

"Yes, sir!" Jack said happily. "We are finally livin' da dream and headin' out to Santa Fe!"

Roosevelt sighed. "You know, kids, sometimes what you think you want isn't really what you want."

Jack and Brenna looked at each other wondering where this was going.

"Now, I may not know a lot about the life of a newsie, but I can tell that you have a lot of people here who care for you. My guess is you've been working together every day for years. Will this place you wish to go to really be the same without them?"

Brenna looked over at Jack. "He's right, Jack. Santa Fe is great and all, but here…is where our family is."

"For years I've dreamed of seeing Santa Fe." Brenna and Roosevelt looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "So I guess I can wait a little longer," he laughed. Brenna smiled and hugged him as Roosevelt ordered for the carriage to turn around.

They pulled back up inside the Distribution Center much to their fellow newsies delight.

Jack stood up and shook Roosevelt's hand. "Thanks for da advice, Governor. Like you said, I still got things to do. Besides, we got family here."

He hopped out of the carriage then turned and helped Brenna get out. The newsies all swarmed around them and clapped them on the shoulders happily.

"So, how's da headline today?" he asked David as he and Brenna walked up to him.

"Headlines don't sell papes." He looked over to Brenna.

She smiled at him widely. "Newsies sell papes," she finished.

"Come here, Davey!"

David grabbed his papers and handed them to Crutchy. Jack held out his hand, and David shook it…after spitting into his own hand. Brenna laughed as he finally became one of them. A true newsie.

Jack looked at Brenna, and pressed his lips to hers once more. The newsies cheered louder than ever, their wish finally coming true.

"Get 'em, Cowboy! You got it, Tricks!" Racetrack yelled.

Brenna laughed and Jack pulled her into a tight hug. She caught a glance at Sarah, who looked really upset, and she knew it was because she had a crush on Jack. And he was in love with someone else.

She left Jack's arms and went over to the poor girl. "Listen," she said in her ear, making sure none of the boys heard her. "You're a pretty girl. And I've never seen someone like you work so hard to help a bunch of people like us. No doubt one of these days you're gonna find a nice young man who treats you better than you ever thought possible."

Sarah smiled and at her and hugged her. They were going to get along just fine.

* * *

That night back at the Lodging House, everyone decided it was finally time to tell Kloppman Brenna's secret.

"Hey, Kloppman," Jack said to the man behind the desk. "There's somethin' we gotta tell ya."

The elderly man looked up at all of the boys' faces, specifically the one standing next to Jack.

"This here is Trickster. But dat's not her real name."

Brenna took her cap off in front of him and her hair once more tumbled out.

"Her real name's Brenna."

Kloppman smiled. "I was wonderin' when you were gonna tell me."

Brenna's eyes widened. "You knew?"

"I always saw ya run to the washroom before I came in and it didn't take much to put two and two together."

"And you didn't say anything?"

"If Jack Kelly was allowing a girl to stay here, then I knew it had to have been for a good reason. So I let it slide."

"In dat case," Jack said. "I wanna apologize, Kloppman. I shoulda trusted ya more."

All the newsies laughed and headed upstairs for sleep.

When the washroom was empty, Brenna went up to Jack with her arms over her chest. "Shall we talk about what happened today?"

Jack smiled awkwardly. "Well…I guess…I didn't wanna go anywhere without ya. You've always been there for me, and I didn't know what I'd do without ya."

Brenna felt a blush crawl up to her cheeks.

"Remember that mornin' we started strikin'? You asked me if I was okay because I was actin' weird?"

"Yes…"

"Well…I was actin' weird because somethin' happened dat night we came back from Davey's house. When you stayed outside, I watched ya from up here. I watched ya sing and dance outside in the rain, singin' dat really nice song about lettin' it go."

Brenna blushed harder. "You were watchin' me?"

"Yeah. It was so amazin' to see you so…free. Like ya didn't have a care in da world at all. I'd never seen ya like dat before. And then when ya came back up here and took your cap off, your hair was drippin' wet from the rain, and you just looked…so beautiful. I don't know, I guess dat was da moment I realized…I love you, Brenna."

Brenna smiled. "Well, you're lucky. Because I love you too. Apparently, da boys have been wantin' us to get together for some time."

"Looks like they're gettin' what they want," Jack chuckled as he stepped closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she rested her hands on his shoulders. They shared another kiss, much more romantic now that it was just them. At least they thought it was just them. Cheers erupted from their fellow newsies, who evidently had been watching the entire thing.

Brenna squinted at them playfully and went over to the sliding washroom door and slid it shut. She laughed as she went back over to Jack and kissed him once more.

Brenna had never felt happier to be a newsie.


End file.
